The Blue Haven Hotel

Do not be fooled by the pictures. This is an old hotel in dire need of a good renovation. The best thing about the hotel is the location. After that, there is nothing positive I can say. Lumpy old mattresses; stuffy rooms; and the slowest and worse breakfast during a two week trip.

Two rooms were booked for us by a tour company but when we arrived the hotel had forgotten to allocate one of our rooms. The only thing they could offer was a family room that we would have to share. This family room is normally cheaper than two rooms but the manager tried to make us pay the cost of two rooms anyway. It took over an hour of discussion to agree on a price, during which time they offered different and conflicting excuses to try and justify ripping us off even though they had made the mistake. They were just making it up as they went along. In the end they offered a slightly reduced price but they were still cheating us. The room was very hot, airless, unpleasant and we found silverfish in the bedding. The included breakfast was barely edible. We have made a formal complaint to the tour company. Avoid this overpriced dump like the plague.

Went this past week …. Room 17 1. Toilet did not flush properly at first. Took many times to flush 2. Room was musty and they had an “air freshener” in the bathroom to hide it. Made it worse. Almost couldn’t sleep because of the bathroom/room smell. 3. TV didn’t work either 4. Super warm in the room… and only mid May. Fan didn’t help Spoke to the front desk. They said they’d send housekeeping up… never came. Some guy who didn’t speak English great tried with the tv but no luck, which was fine in the end. Wasn’t worth the price we paid for the night. Felt like I wasted $275. Would stay at the Actons Hotel if went again.

Me and my partner stayed here to celebrate our engagement. The room was a lovely room with a view of the town and a nice sized bathroom. The bed was really comfortable which is very important to me. We ordered wine to the room and had lunch in the cafe downstairs which had amazing food. The staff were very nice and accommodating as anything I asked for they provided in a timely manner, we had requested wine and then an iron. Kinsale itself is a lovely place and we will definitely be returning and coming back to this hotel.

We stayed here again and still a fantastic hotel. The staff can't do enough for you. Had dinner in the restaurant and oh my god. Gorgeous and the man playing music was brilliant. Lovely atmosphere. Could talk and yet enjoy the music. Breakfast in the morning was actually probably the best we ever had. Full Irish and Eggs Benedict.

This hotel is in town , so no views or parking .you can park on a meter or or at the supermarket up hill . My biggest issue was dinner , I’m vegetarian and they gave me a dish with meat inside potatoe , and I double checked before I ordered . After eating it to taste what it was . They did not react professionally, they avoided questions and me , they said sorry , but actions speak louder than words . Training needed badly , and hospitality could be natural in Ireland, real let down and peed off after eating meat , after being veggi since I was a child . Lots more hotels to choose from next time luckily.

Lovely old world hotel with friendly staff in a great location. Dyson hairdryers and fans in the rooms which were fantastic. We had a lovely dinner on Saturday night although 3 people at a small round table wasn't ideal. Again the staff were attentive and pleasant. However, breakfast let this hotel down with a bang. No juices or fruit offered. I have never stayed anywhere where this was the case. No gluten free cereal. I asked for the gluten free full Irish which was on the menu as an option. My breakfast consisted of 2 pieces of bacon, 2 eggs, a hash brown, beans, cherry tomatoes and a mushroom. I accept that the hotel didn't have gluten free sausages or pudding (although these are easily bought anywhere now), but surely an extra piece of bacon or something could have been put on the plate. At €220 for a double and €245 for a king room none of the party thought the breakfast was good value. There were 9 of us at the table and obviously the staff decided to wait until all breakfasts were cooked before bringing out any plates, which would have been fine if the food had been kept hot. Most of us had cold or luke warm breakfasts. The freshly cooked breakfast ended up being a breakfast which was left sitting waiting while others were being cooked. Such a shame.

I so wanted to give the Blue Haven five stars but I had to subtract one for room issues. Let's start with the positives. The staff were brilliant from top to bottom. Kate was especially helpful with local recommendations and securing a driver for us on the next leg of our Irish adventure. The common areas are top notch and the bistro (reviewed separately) was cozy and the food yummy. We reserved room #9 for a little extra space. Hmm...it appears to be a consolidation of two rooms which would work brilliantly for a couple traveling with a child or plus one. The room's windows looked out over...nothing: a fence, an alley, close in roofs or were too high to be of any use. One of the ceilinglights flickered unless you set the dimmer "just right" (thanks to the handyman who showed me the magic setting.) Beyond the toilet seat that bangs your back and the inconsistent water temperature, the room was too hot. We turned off the radiator but the room was still too hot for sleeping. Lest you think I'd never return to the Blue Haven, I would come back. But not to room #9. Nope. Not that one. Never.

Stayed at the blue haven on wed night 13 dec , got woken up by a massive lorry parked outside our window unloading cement from 6 o clock to 7 45 , ( crazy ) spoke to the lady downstairs and got a simple apology , very disappointed 😞 it’s a pity this mishap ruined our stay