The Abbey Hotel Donegal

​My recent dining experience at the Abbey Hotel in Donegal was truly exceptional. The location is ideal, right in the city center, and the ambiance was lively with fantastic traditional Irish music.||​Our waitress, Rosina, provided truly outstanding service. My mother and my friend are both autistic, and I have ADHD, and Rosina was incredibly in tune with our needs. She has a remarkable ability to read her customers, and her interpersonal skills were next to none.|| As a hospitality professional who has worked in all different sectors of the industry, including bars, restaurants, and management in Belfast and London, throughout my adult life, I have never seen a 17-year-old with her level of attention, care, knowledge, and ability to work with the public. Her knowledge of the menu, attentive way of calming my mother, and her upselling skills are something I have rarely encountered. She made my mother, who is usually not comfortable eating out due to a choking disorder, feel so at ease that she was able to enjoy her meal. Rosina's attentiveness was next to none, and her ability to make our dining experience fantastic truly sets her apart.||​The food was also a highlight. My pork sliders were delicious, my mother raved about the carvery, and my friend thoroughly enjoyed his burger.||​I highly recommend the Abbey Hotel for a memorable dining experience. Rosina is a complete asset to the company, and I hope this is recognized by her peer group and the hotel's management. She is a true star and a great asset to their business. I would also like to say that every other member of the staff I encountered was fantastic including the our other server another young girl and the hotel reception staff at providing me helpful information as well. I just wanted to highlight the care and attention that Rosina brought to our table. I highly thank her and wish her a Happy 18th Birthday as she ad mentioned it's soon.||​Thank you, Rosina, for making it possible for me to enjoy a meal out with my mother in comfort and ease, something I haven't been able to do in years.

I booked The Abbey Hotel due to its excellent location and after seeing all the great music acts that play there on social media. I figured it had to be a great place to get the crowds for these shows. Honestly it was probably one of the worst places I have stayed. ||The only positive things were the front desk/reception staff who were extremely pleasant and helpful and the great music & staff in the bar area. We saw an excellent band which consisted of two men and a female fiddle player. We also had the pleasure of hearing the band leaders young granddaughter sing. She was delightful. |The room was supposed to have views of “Views of Donegal Bay or overlooking the Diamond”. Our view was a rooftop with generators. We saw this out a window that had one sheer curtain that was filthy & in was shredded. |We had a double & single bed. The double was ok, but the single bed was a cot with a headboard. |The bathroom was sort of renovated but not a comfortable space if you are staying more than two nights. No space to put your cosmetics & the shower knobs were loose & not functioning properly. Most of the time you were scalded by the water. |The room wasn’t dirty but I wouldn’t call it clean either. It was very basic with minimal amenities. It was very warm, even with window open and no air conditioning. Common hallways were dark & musty. |We had dinner one night and it was just ok. One chicken curry was great, the other had minimal amount of chicken. The turkey & ham dinner was enjoyed but the seafood casserole was watery with minimal seafood. |Breakfast the first morning was better, the young lady serving was cheerful & food was hot & cooked well. Fruit was disappointing as most was from a tin. Tea was weak with no flavor. Only a small pot was brought to a table of 4. Request for more came after we were finished. |The second morning (Monday, Aug 11th) it was horrible. The young blond lady working that morning was miserable. Acted like she was doing us a favor and just pointed to the cold plate of toast when we asked for hot toast. The rashers and other meat was barely cooked, only on one side and the beans were dried to the metal container. Thankfully this young lady took a break and a delightful brunette young lady happily made us hot, fresh toast. Hostess was welcoming and friendly. |To say I was terribly disappointed is an understatement. The only thing going for this hotel is location and entertainment. I wish I had looked at all other options in town. |Do not stay here.

My husband and I spent two days in the Abbey Hotel last week. Check-in was quick, efficient and friendly. We were given an upgrade and our room looked out on to the river. It was spacious and quiet with a good walk-in shower. ||Housekeeping was passable but when my husband spilled some water on the bathroom floor and went to wipe it, the tissue he used was black with dirt. ||We did not have dinner in the restaurant but did have breakfast which was very basic. On the first morning there were a few bowls of fruit - tinned grapefruit, prunes and mixed diced fresh fruit. But on the second morning the bowl of fresh fruit wasn’t there. I think it might have been all used but not replenished.||The hot food was served by a girl who very obviously didn’t want to be there, she looked so bored and unsmiling. She made toast when she wasn’t serving anyone but when the bread was toasted she put it on a plate and left it there to go cold. I have never seen this in any other hotel either at home or abroad. There needs to be someone in charge of the breakfast restaurant to see that items are replenished and served properly. ||We enjoyed being in Donegal town and the hotel is right in the middle of it which is very handy. Evening entertainment in the bar was enjoyable with plenty of good musicians and there seems to be plenty of weekends available for those who like Country & Western music and dancing but when we return to Donegal we will be staying somewhere else. ||If you choose this hotel, there are plenty of cafes/restaurants near by which serve excellent breakfasts and I’d advise you to book room only.

We were an evening 'walk in' into the hotel restaurant as we had just arrived in Donegal. The hotel is in a prime position in the main square just a short distance from free evening parking at the harbour side. The restaurant had a lovely calm ambience, we had a great table in a slightly elevated position near the front windows. I had the mixed seafood risotto and my partner had the salmon, both were excellent. In fact over our 12 day tour of Ireland my risotto was the best meal of the trip and we dined in some very expensive seafood restaurants! Well done to Chefs for the great food, the staff for the attentive service and the hotel management for supporting the local GAA team!

Thanks to much to Edwina and the rest of the staff for looking after us during our stay last weekend. We booked a group stay - rooms were perfect and the hotel is in such an ideal location.

Stayed in the Abbey for 2 nights, hotel was filthy, staff were mainly rude, room was only ok. Breakfast the first morning wasn't great but improved the 2nd morning but only slightly. Young chap serving the 2nd morning was polite and helpful rest of the staff looked like they were there against their will. There was a noise over the 2 nights like a generator that just stayed going all day and night. The morning we left the smell in the lobby was awful like the hotel was having problems with the drains so glad we were leaving. Would of said something on checkout but the receptionist just took the key and went back to her screen, there was no "did we enjoy our stay or how were things" Not the best hotel experience we've had.

We visited for a meal and traditional music and we were not disappointed. Lovely fish pie and a Smithics. The music was a treat. A cracked glass for a members drink was unusual, point of for that.

Lovely comfortable room. Terrible breakfast. A waste of €30. €200 for mid week Bed and Breakfast expensive enough. We are travelling around West coast, most expensive 3 star and worst value so far . Stay here for the convenience of location, take your €30 and get a proper breakfast. When items run out ( at 9.20 even though breakfast is till 10) they are not replenished… even the brown soda bread and side plates!! And one of the servers did not want to be there. Lads, will ye fry a few eggs and black and white pudding is not the greatest ask. The impression we got was that the hotel would prefer if no one came for breakfast, it has a good location and that is it’s selling point.

Posh. Reminds me of an early 1900s Titanic era hotel with all of the decor. Doesn't look like much from the outside, but this hotel is certainly a lot bigger than you think it is and conveniently located in the middle of town and next to various restaurants/ shops. (Interesting that it is literally in the middle of town and blending into the buildings around it). Beds were a little uncomfy (and no washcloths what??). We ate in the bar one night (noticed that not many others were). The wait was a little longer than usual. My dad ordered the sliced beef sandwich (a generous portion) and I the seafood chowder. Filled with mussels, shrimp, huge hunks of fish, and Calamari (the broth maybe a little too much for a sensitive stomach). A bang for your buck at 8€ . Next, our tour group was treated to a private concert in the banquet hall by the Elders. A breakfast buffet was provided for us overlooking the River Eske- a generous portion of eggs, tomato, beans, sausage, porridge, yogurt, bacon, and croissants. Our dinner the first night was also provided banquet-style. Bread, bbq chicken goujon with a pesto salad, cod over a white wine sauce and potatoes, veggies, and a lemon cheesecake sampler. Great efficient staff. (The free wifi is also great to keep in touch with the states)

Charming hotel in the heart of town. Furnishings were slightly dated, but everything was clean and tidy.... and you can't beat the location! Staff were friendly and accommodating.

We stayed here in early May, 2018 for one night. Reception was gracious and helpful. We went up to our room and it had a funny smell, reminiscent of exterminator spray (spraying for insects or rodents?) We went back downstairs and were given keys for 3 other rooms and all smelled funny to varying degrees. We ended up taking the first room and got used to the smell. There is no parking for the hotel but they recommend that you park in the public lot down the street and they sell you a 1 pound parking token which saves you maybe another half-a-pound (as I recall the regular 24 hour parking is 1.5 pounds.) It was odd that they asked us to request a dining table in the somewhat separate restaurant at the reception counter. So, we did, and reception asked "When?" I answered "right now" and got a funny look. But, when we walked into the restaurant, we were the ONLY customers there. The meal was pretty good and we went to bed happy. This hotel is centrally located on the town square and there's tons of shopping right there.