Carnegie Court Hotel - Swords, Ireland 

Spent two nights here, Saturday and Sunday, 28th and 29th June 08. Rooms were OK, food was OK but the hotel failed to meet the basic requirement of providing somewhere to sleep. In spite of booking many weeks ahead we were allocated rooms next to a noisy ventilation system; noise from a disco went on until 2.00am and this was followed by noisy neighbours who partied, and argued until 5.30am. We complained to the night porter at 3.30 but he didn't seem to understand English and altho he intervened the noise continued. At reception the following day another guest was also complaining about the noise. We got moved to quieter rooms but don't think he did. We asked for recompense for the lost nights sleep and were told the manager would phone us at home. we are still waiting. You may think this was an unfortunate one-off but this hotel runs discos most Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. The whole thing was capped by turning up for breakfast at 10.05 to be told that breakfasts were over. On booking in we were told that breakfast was until 10.30 but reception had omitted to tell us this was only on Saturday and Sunday morning. Bad, bad experience.

We decided to stay in Swords for our last night in Ireland before flying out of Dublin airport the next day. Excellent location from the airport, so we were happy about that. Not much to say about the town of Swords, itself. I was looking forward to a tour of the castle, but it was locked up and you could only wander the exterior grounds. The hotel was nice upon entry. The staff were lovely and had my reservation information ready. Our room was clean but smelled of smoke and we needed to open the window to get some air circulation going. Beds were comfortable, but I coudn't help but notice that my blanket was ripped and ragged...not acceptable. Breakfast the next day, which was included, was also just fine. A plentiful self serve cereal, juice and fruit area, and then they bring you a breakfast cooked to order. No problems with service and the food was good. I might consider staying there again if I needed to fly out of Dublin, but I'd rather stay in a more interesting town.