Hotel in zona Penneys, Kilkenny

My husband and I stayed here in December to celebrate my birthday. This is a perfectly fine place to stay, however, it is not a five star hotel. We have stayed at Dromoland Castle, Glenlo Abbey, Hayfield Manor and the Merrion and Lyrath Estate doesn't hold a candle to even our least favorite of those four. I will start with the positive and say that the grounds are nice and the location is handy if you are visiting Kilkenny. The property itself is clean and decently maintained. Now for the negative - and again, many of these are only complaints because Lyrath heavily markets itself as a 5 star hotel. Starting with reception, they were very nice upon check in but never greeted us when entering the building after our initial experience. There was also no doorman there after the first day of our stay. (And it might be worth noting that there was an event at the convention center that ended after that day. The hotel didn't seem as concerned with guests not related to convention center events.) We had a nice walk around the grounds, however the trail maps, signs and actual trails didn't line up at all. We planned on one trail and ended up on a completely different one - neither of us could figure out how. There were no shoe cleaners at the entrance and the trails were quite muddy. As for dining, drinks at Tuppers Bar were nice. The small living rooms were nice to sit and chat and enjoy the fire. However, I was given dirty wine glasses twice. There are two restaurants on the premises but one was closed our entire stay. We had dinner at the Grill the first night we were there. We were repeatedly asked if we were done eating even though there was still food on our plates. A server actually did clear a plate with food still on it but we were sick of fighting them. After being hounded during our appetizers, we could find no one to freshen our drinks. When someone finally came over, he tried to top off my red wine with white. They gave us the wrong check at the end of our meal. The food was okay but nothing special. I wish we had gone into town. Breakfast was such a disappointment. It is 80% buffett and the second morning of our stay, the entire hot buffet was closed! I ordered the smashed avocado toast which contained the little nub and some skin which was very unpleasant. The orange juice is concentrate from the grocery store and the bacon, potatoes and pancakes were almost inedible. It was honestly one of the worst hotel breakfasts we have ever had. The room was pleasant but again, not five star. There was no soap dish, no heated towel rack, the toilet seat was loose, fridge was empty and the cabinet door that contained the fridge didn't close. To top it off, the hotel screen saver on the TV still said ”your brand here” in place of Lyrath Estate. Almost two months later and I'm still puzzled by this property. I would save some money and stay in the heart of Kilkenny close to better dining options!