Michael Kellyvisits Marriott Druids Glen Hotel & Country Club
IT MIGHT SEEM a little whiny to be giving out about how far our room was from reception at Marriott Druids Glen Hotel, but why do these modern hotels have to be so sprawling? Are they trying to make sure we will work up an appetite on the way to dinner, 210 paces away? To use a golfing analogy - which I am sure they will appreciate, as the hotel has two championship golf courses, Druids Glen and Druids Heath - 210 paces is the equivalent of a rather long par three. This means our room was the equivalent of a robust three iron from the lobby - when frankly we'd prefer a nice short wedge.
We felt we got a reasonable deal on our night at Druids Glen - €320 for a room, breakfast and dinner for two people. Not cheap, but it's a five-star hotel and this was a weekend. And yet there was something profoundly underwhelming about the experience that made us feel we didn't get the bang for our buck we expected. We were also a little miffed to be charged an additional €49.40 for dinner on check-out, which we assumed (wine excluded) was covered by the offer price.
Marriott is a vastly experienced and successful hotel chain, so the Druids Glen experience is as you would expect: very polished and incredibly well run. But it lacks that wow factor that so many of its five-star compatriots in this country can offer, and a lack of charm means that you never quite escape the big-chain feel.
If you've played golf at Druids Glen, you will no doubt recall the magnificence of its 400-year-old club house (called Woodstock House). If you are expecting more of the same from the hotel, you will be very disappointed. The hotel is an enormous and fundamentally ugly structure that you approach up a long driveway from the rear. Things aren't much better inside: the decor is an unhappy mix of large-chain modernity and occasional injections of inadvisable olde-Ireland shtick.
Staff are uniformly and exceptionally friendly, and there's a relaxed buzz in the lobby. Having undertaken the trek from reception we arrived in our room: very large, very comfortable and spotlessly clean but again, completely lacking the je ne sais quoiyou hope for in a top-class hotel. Not exactly bargain basement, but it's not quite five-star opulence either. Our view was of a courtyard and the windows of other rooms.
I have a thing about complimentary water in hotel rooms. Give me a few bottles of free water and I'm a happy man. Instead we were charged €6 for two 250ml bottles of mineral water from a well-stocked minibar.
We headed for the health club and spa for a spot of chill-out time before dinner. This was also far from reception but, happily, in the same direction as our room. There's a well-equipped gym overlooking a fine pool and the standard sauna-jacuzzi- steam-room combination. You can amuse yourself in the sauna watching brave souls jumping into a Baltic plunge pool.
By far the highlight of our stay was the pre-dinner drinks in the 13th Bar. It has the cosy charm of a mountain lodge and was chock-full of happy golfers discussing their rounds. Most of the accents that we heard were English or American. Less enjoyable was dinner in Druids Brasserie: a large but uninspiring dining room and a menu that plays it safe with something to please every golfer's palate. We both opted for fish. Slow-braised monkfish costs €31, for which you would be expecting Michelin-star fare, which this most definitely was not. Our selection of breads was stale, and we sent back a portion of fries that were billed as "chunky chips" but that our waiter confirmed were the frozen variety.
We had an excellent breakfast the following morning: an impressive array of fresh fruit and a hearty full Irish to set us up for a planned vigorous walk around the grounds.
But alas this was not to be. Though its website boasts that it is set amid 400 acres, non-golfing visitors are limited to a path that runs around the hotel, as the golf course is off-limits on health and safety grounds.
This probably sums up the Marriott Druids Glen experience. Golfers will undoubtedly be in heaven here. But for the rest of us there's little to recommend it. The decor is an unhappy mix of large-chain modernity and occasional injections of inadvisable olde Ireland shtick
WhereMarriott Druids Glen Hotel & Country Club, Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow, 01-2870800, www.marriott.com.
WhatFive-star hotel in the 400-acre Druids Glen Golf Resort.
Rooms145 ensuite guestrooms on three floors. Best rates, 2B&B, one dinner midweek €185pp, weekend €250pp. 1B&B one dinner midweek, €220 per room, weekend €260 per room. Offers including a round of golf start from €245pp.
Food and drinkDaily buffet breakfast and evening dinner at Druids Brasserie. Light bar food available at the 13th Bar.
Child-friendlinessThe hotel allows two children under 16 to share their parents' room free of charge. Breakfast is complimentary for children up to the age of 12. A children's menu is available in the restaurants.
AmenitiesTwo golf courses, 18m indoor pool, whirlpool, sauna, health club and spa.