Errigal Country House Hotel

乾淨，安靜， 服務熱情， 酒店人不多， 美中不足的就是酒店周邊是農田， 衹有鳥語花香

We spent New Years Eve and New Years Day in the Honeymoon Suite, and overall, we had a lovely relaxing time. The room was absolutely lovely, very spacious and very cosy, and the jacuzzi bath, coffee/tea station, and complimentary mini bar were really nice touches. A few small changes here & and there, though with regards to attention to detail, would really push this hotel experience from a 4 star to a 5 star. Little things like only having 1 robe and slippers in the room when we were 2 people staying. Also, only supplying soap and not hand wash (which is fine) but not supplying a soap dish. We had to use the paper coasters on the sink, and they just got very wet and messy. We ate in the bar on both nights and whilst the food (and the staff) were lovely, we booked a package with dinner and were told dinner was in the restaurant on whichever night we wanted, so we picked New Years day, only for us to be told when we went down that thw restaurant closes mid week so we were back in the bar. What was frustrating about that was earlier on in the day, we wanted some lunch for room service and asked for some toasties to be sent, but we were then told that they couldn't make us any toasties as they were serving Sunday lunch only...I understand it was NY Day...but it was also a Wednesday (the reason the restaurant was closed) so we had to order food that wasn't exactly what we wanted. Again, I appreciate that being NY day, the staff were probably limited, but being told that it's not possible to make a simple ham & cheese toastie was a bit disappointing. But as I said, all the food we did have was lovely. The Tom Jones tribute act on NYE was very enjoyable too. The breakfast was also very nice with lots of choice. My biggest disappointment however was upon check in and check out. When we checked in, the lady who looked after us was lovely, but she never went through our itinerary or confirmed our dining bookings with us. This is standard in most hotels and I think this would have alleviated the surprise of noting being able to eat in the restaurant on night two and also understand the food offerings available for NY Day. Then, after a lovely 2 days (and having spent quite a bit of money on the room/food/drink during that time), we went to the front desk to check outand I believe Christine was who looked after us. She asked us for our room number and said we had a room service balance to pay(no argument there, we knew we did) but she put the card machine in front of us without presenting us with a bill to check. I was about to ask for it when my partner (not thinking) just tapped his card. But we shouldn't have had to ask for it, it should be standard that a bill is presented. She then asked did we want a receipt and when we said no, she just said OK bye. There was no "thanks for staying" or "how was your stay" or "did you have a nice time" and I really feel that something like that should be standard when guests are leaving a hotel...instead it felt a bi

Errigal Country House A new find for us, always on the lookout for new hotels and restaurants… On invitation from a friend who has taken what I consider to be several new roles in this property - Manta, we travelled down to see what this hotel and more so the restaurant had to offer. With Chef Peter Fisher at the stove we were excited to experience their Friday night “Supper Club” On arrival we were greeted by a bridal party getting set to enjoy their dinner banquet so an extra 200 plus meals to serve on top of the Supper Club. Kitchen was going to be busy and I imagined that Chef might have liked us to visit on a quieter night, not so. After we checked into room 230, a newly refurbished junior suite, we dropped into the bar for a pre-dinner pint and G&T. The menu read very well indeed; we were presented with a Strawberry Margarita to kick off proceedings. A nice little palette cleanser. Following some complimentary breads, the sourdough was to die for, Nicci started with the Thai Duck Salad, Red Pepper, Mangetout, Coriander, Cashew Nuts and a Fragrant Thai Dressing to complete. Very nicely presented and the flavours didn’t disappoint. I went for the Ham & Brie Croquettes, Garlic Aioli, Parmesan and Confit Tomato. Again, a wonderful start to a meal. For mains, we both went for the Lough Sheelin10oz sirloin with all the trimmings one would expect. Cooked medium rare and to perfection, the quality of this meat sourced locally to the hotel is superb. The steak was as good a cut of beef as we have eaten this year. Now, having just recovered from a serious dose of man-flu (we’ve all been there guys), my appetite was not on top of its game. We decided for a coffee rather that a dessert, even though the sticky toffee pudding was screaming from the kitchen… We retired to a lounge area just outside the restaurant door where restaurant manager Manta joined us for a chat, followed by chef. We obviously gave our feedback and the only nagging point was for both of us, portion size. They were more than generous to say the least! Chef Peter asked why we didn’t have dessert and I explained, not good enough was his reponse, sticky toffee pudding arrived out and OMG, as a STP fan, it was out of this world. Overall, for €50 per person you get a cocktail each, five sumptuous courses cooked to perfection and a bottle of decent wine to accompany. This is amazing value for money (there was a €8 supplement for the steak). We also met with owner Niall Kelly who manages the property along with his day-time job running a construction company, also family owned. Although we were a little ahead of time he explained to us the next development in the hotel, the new alfresco dining atrium, watch this space Although Cootehill is not a destination town in my mind, as a base to explore the area this family run hotel is ideal. Shane & Nicci Smith, YesChef Ireland