Carrickdale Hotel and Leisure Complex

Nice place great staff a lot of weddings goin on and various functions. The hotel is very nice but very very isolated nothing near by everything a good15 20 mins drive away. Rooms spotless warm and comfy bed which was huge. Altho i made a bit of a hiccup with check in date they wer ok about it and gave us the room at same rate. the food i wasnt too big a fan of now but cant complain really.
Defo a good spot for a wedding id say or a big function the spa across the road is very nice with underground acess to it. has a full spa swimming pool an jacuuzi. Il get to that next time. But 3 star as its location lets it down people still wating on taxis at 4 am in the lobby and no direct shuttles or buses goin to and from it.

I’ve stayed here a few times and what an amazing experience, our room was beautiful and clean, we especially loved the jacuzzi bath. The spa was great with various thermal areas, indoor pool, outdoor hot tub and relaxation areas, and our treatments were so relaxing. Dinner and breakfast were all perfect, and all staff were friendly and helpful, from reception staff to dining staff and the staff working in the spa. The bar was great as it had a live singer and we were able to relax and watch while enjoying the tasty cocktails. I’ve stayed with my partner, and also a group of friend’s on another occasion. Will definitely return again!
Room Tip: The executive suite is lovely and has a jacuzzi bath as well as a seating area.

The staff here are so lovely and the portions huge but honestly some of the food belongs to a grim past that we really do deserve to leave behind. The sad reality is that with a little real effort, and a bit of hard work, this food would be turned around but I’m not confident. So here’s my take: the three course Sunday lunch is 22 euro, it’s good value (but in reality it’s about 4 euro less than Fitzpatricks yet the latter always serves up superb food). The starters include vegetable soup (its always great here) boiled egg & shrimp mayonnaise, crab & salmon cake with a mayonnaise sauce, and a spicy chicken Caesar salad. All the starters are quite good. I had the crab & prawn cake, tasty and properly seasoned too. It would be much better with a sweet chilli sauce so this should be offered along with the mayonnaise sauce. The mains though are just alright — the farmed pink salmon is served over cooked (there were two over cooked portions served up to us.) The breaded plaice is a factory made product and no doubt it’s a frozen product. I’ve had it once and there’s a high proportion of breadcrumbs with thin fish, just make it from fresh and from scratch and it will be ace. Most of my criticism though is reserved for the vegetables — what is it that prevents this four star hotel with experienced chefs and surrounded by industrial kitchens from serving al dente vegetables rather than serving veg cooked almost to oblivion? I heard someone complain that the swede or turnip veg that just arrived to their table was cold, when it reappeared a few minutes later in was steaming and I heard the diner say that it was mush. Roast potatoes aren’t roasted, rather they’re deep fried and the chips again are factory made and poor tasting. Again proper chips are easy if you aren’t lazy. The mashed potato also needs proper seasoning too. The steaks are always good here and my lunch choice of a minute steak, which carried a four euro supplement, was fine and still good value, but the pepper sauce was awful it was really poor quality and it tasted as if it’s a packet mix, even if it isn’t. I’m not a professional chef, I certainly don’t have a professional kitchen and I can easily produce a far superior quality pepper sauce. So when the supporting cast of over cooked veg, factory made chips, over breaded fish, deep fried potatoes, sauces tasting as if they are out of a packet and all poor tasting with any quality destroyed as they all are here it detracts from the main meats and fish — I don’t know anyone who for example, enjoys over — cooked squishy, water logged green beans and swede. The desserts, trifle, pavlova, jam sponge and custard were all ace. I had the sponge and custard and it was five star by itself. I’m a real pig for old english puddings and it’s why this review isn’t 2 star. My overall impression of the lunch was a pretty good care home standard where teeth aren’t required to work well and most of the diners were very old folk.

Popped in for half an hour to meet a client — easy to get to and the interior was nice. Toilets were especially clean and fragrant which is always a bonus!
Can’t say anymore as I didn’t even have time to get a coffee or take a picture! Boo! Maybe next time
Good for business heads, easiest place to meet a client before in Dundalk heads, and stopping to have a look around the toilets too long as you can’t believe how clean they are heads!