Clayton Hotel Galway

I was so excited for our stay here at the Clayton, as it is our first hotel experience in Ireland (we have stayed with family or B&Bs for the past 30 years). Unfortunately, we've been pretty disappointed. We dined the first night in the Bistro, in order to use our dinner certificates that we received with the room rate. It was very busy when we arrived and we were added to the party area with additional guests. Another couple was seated after us and had to find another table themselves, then ask to be moved. They were moved. When I asked if there was another table (most of the larger parties had cleared out), I was told there was none available. I get it, it was busy however I did see other empty tables. Our waitress, was so unaware of our table it was crazy. Before ordering, I asked what was included with the meal vouchers with our room. She did not know, so went to ask. When she returned, she still did not know and said whatever we ordered should be covered. That was fine. We placed our order and really never saw her again. My dad ordered the cod main course. I asked if the fish could be separate from the tomatoes and beans (my dad is a picky eater and I looked at the menu/pictures beforehand) and was assured it would be done. It wasn't. No one came back to the table to check on the food and we were unable to let anyone know or even ask for an additional plate. I even had to ask the very nice man that delivered our food for more water. This was very frustrating. When she finally appeared, we had to flag her down and get her attention. By this time, we were done with our meal and had been waiting for her. She came over and cleared the plates/glasses that had been sitting there empty since before we received our meal (we ordered drinks and an appetizer). She asked if we wanted dessert, to which I replied no and asked for the check. Again, she disappeared for about 20 minutes. As I was about to head to the bar for service, she reappeared but only to stand in the middle of the room staring into space (I even took a picture because this happened multiple times). We had to waive her down again in order to get the check. When she brought it, she hadn't applied the voucher for the meals so I reminded her. She left again and was gone for another 10 or so minutes. It really felt like the longest, loudest dinner we've ever had. Also, the water temperature changed every 20 seconds from freezing cold to scolding hot (we tried showering in the evening and morning but no difference). Second, the shower mat for the tub is disgusting - there is other people's hair and mold on it so we were unable to use it. Lastly, the trash bins in room wasn't removed in the room and it was definitely full. Overall, this hasn't been the experience we were expecting and I'm truly so disappointed! I did contact management who apologied for the inonveniences.....but yet to reply to my resonse a month later.

I literally thought i was in the temple bar , pint bottle of cider and a bottle of corona 18 euro ,total greed ,wont be there again,was any wonder the place was dead on a Friday night with them prices 🤬🤬

Our hotel was booked via our Exoticca Tour. I really liked this hotel! We stayed here two nights while exploring Galway and other areas nearby! My aunt and I were given a MASSIVE room - honestly, I’m thinking we were given a wheelchair accessible room as all switches and things we needed were around waist height. While we didn’t need it, we appreciated it! We had a queen bed each, a full balcony, and a very large bathroom! The food in the restaurant/bar was nice but we did have a few issues with service. Part of it we were to blame for, but not all. Our friends had already been at the restaurant for quite a while - they were eating when we arrived. There was no host at the stand or around anywhere and after waiting quite a while we just sat ourselves with them with the hopes of flagging down their waiter to order food for ourselves. From the moment we sat down, it took well over an hour before we even SAW a waiter. No waiter came to check on them, clear their plates, offer more drinks, bring the bill, etc. which was odd. We had two others join our party and still no service. Eventually we flagged someone down and got menus and by the time we had an order in we had been there well over an hour and a half! Once our order was in though the food and drinks were delicious! Second night it wasn’t so bad as we all went together that time. Breakfast was really nice here, it’s served in the other restaurant upstairs. Other things I liked about this hotel: We took advantage of the pool - we’re glad we read online that all Irish pools require a swimcap and had brought them from home as others on our tour did not know! The pool was offering swimming lessons for kids when we arrived but we didn’t have an issue with that (it was only 2 kids) and we mostly had the pool to ourselves. It’s quite a large pool for a hotel and about chest deep for me, which was perfect. We loved the steam room and sauna too. Walking distance to Dunne’s and a Tesco Express - able to grab snacks and other necessities and do some shopping. We appreciated the free bottles of water daily and cookies! Nice touch. The bathroom was nice but my issues were: -two full walls of mirrors means you get a 180° view of yourself as you shower since the shower “door” is clear 🤪 -the small half shower “door” meant water kind of went everywhere when you showered if you weren’t careful -No vent or fan meant the bathroom steamed up very quickly, I wonder how they don’t have lots of mold! A bit far out from the Galway city centre but many in our group just bussed or taxied in so not a huge deal. In our room we didn’t have a folding luggage stand or anywhere to really open our luggage - I cleared off the desk and moved the TV and was able to spread mine out and my aunt used one of the chairs. Not the biggest fan of carpet - it can be hard to wheel luggage on it, but out of all of the spots that did have carpet that we went to it was by far one of the better ones.