The Spa at Slieve Donard

Disgustingly dirty and unhygienic experience at Slieve Donard Spa Review of The Spa at Slieve Donard Reviewed 5 days ago I visited the Slieve Donard Spa on Friday 5th September, my husband had booked a half day spa package for my birthday. Unfortunately, the experience was not what I had expected for a 5 Star hotel in the slightest!! The whole experience was a complete waste of money £140, the spa was quite disgusting indeed and wish I had gone elsewhere. I am only writing a review due to the extremely poor service and lack of, from the Slieve Donard hotel General Manager and its staff. I spoke to the Spa Manager an explained to her the spa experience; no apology was made and excuses proffered. I had asked for the General Managers email address, to which I was told it was confidential and she would not be sharing it!? I telephoned the main reception and obtained the GM’s email address. I emailed the General Manager, Richard Taylor, twice with the below letter and also emailed the info@ address; I did not receive a response!! Extremely poor and extremely disappointed, this is not customer service anyone would expect from a five star hotel, that charges £300+ per night to stay and to use these disgusting spa facilities. I was disconcerted and disappointed by the lack of cleanliness and hygiene at the spa. I had expected the high standards equivalent to the rest of the hotel and its reputation. However, this was most certainly not the case and I was quite shocked by the inferior standards of cleanliness and hygiene, of which some were quite disgusting, plus spa towels were not supplied, resulting in a trip back to reception to ask for one. The lack of cleanliness and hygiene appeared to be historic and not simply a missed daily clean. I have attached some photos taken as representation. Photos include: Broken and filthy spa beds, layers of dust and dirt. Ripped and dirty stained spa bed cushions (not chlorine stained) Hairs and bits of stone and dust on spa floor. Used Plasters on floor beside spa beds. Female toilets upstairs - large cobweb and spider on toilet bowl. Upstairs jacuzzi - cracked window, extremely dirty window. The spa appears to be the only part of the Slieve Donard hotel, which has not received any renovation; very much needed as quite outdated with very visible wear and tear. If the GM of the hotel reads this review and has any semblance of customer care and service for the five star hotel he is responsible for; please do call me as I have left my telephone number for you three times. I don’t believe I am making my complaint without reason and sound justification.

On arrival yesterday 28/7/25 we were greeted at the spa reception by a “young girl” I introduced myself and my partner and the young girl said “oh your Jenny” well we’ve had a therapist call out sick so we can’t do your treatments, I said then sorry I don’t understand why didn’t anyone call us this morning and the same girl said “oh I tried but you must have given us the wrong number” I told her this was completely untrue as The Slieve Donard called me the day before to confirm our appointments at this point this young girl held her hand up to me and said “Look Darlin I just work here”!!! My partner stepped in and asked her not to speak to me like that and asked for her Manager. The treatments were split mine went ahead at 10:30am then my partner’s was rescheduled to 2pm not ideal but we agreed to this as we were there so might as well go ahead. Lunch was included in our 1/2 day spa. So the food…. OMG like school dinner! Cottage pie that looked like it had already been eaten and it was on its 2nd time round. My partner had a chicken Cesar wrap that was literally filled with lettuce. It looked and tasted cheap!!! When we came to pay I really did expect to be compensated in some form but absolutely no offer whatsoever we paid £280 in a 5* resort for shocking treatment on arrival, average treatments and vile food. This was supposed to be a relaxing day for us but I’m sure most would agree this experience was only disappointing.

Great Spa, and world class views from a bubbling Jacuzzi. Excellent steam room for anyone with poor chest; and the pool is massive and just the right cool temperature. Staff are friendly and helpful. Overall the experience was terrific. Some of these other reviews are nonsense and must have been written during the recent renovations. 10/10 from me.

Our treatment was fab 👌but hopefully they do wee touches to the spa and pools during renovations, for a 5 star hotel the pool side chairs had plastic wrapping coming off them, tiles missing in the upstairs jacuzzi, lots of rust, and the windows showing the stunning view where so dirty!! The relaxation room needs some TLC too, some beds completely flat with no remote, and people's treatment cards left behind with names and results of facials etc. Not 5* quality, but staff all lovely. Had a great facial. 👌

Great facial in a lovely relaxed atmosphere. The swimming pool and vitality pool have fantastic views. Should have allowed longer!

room service non existent . hard to get any service an breakfast is served cold plus the spa is like a childrens playground very dissapointed for alot of money that was paid will certainly never be back

Left a message as requested. No one got back to me. Such poor customer service.I will not contact ever again & certainly will not b recommending them.

Love staying here. Food superb and staff warm and friendly

Elegant and classy, a wonderful property to stay in! The resort is an intricate maze of stairs and hallways with the rooms being decorated with dark wood and walls. I had a lovely view of the sea. The breakfast at the hotel is also delightful! The service is very responsive and professional as well. I would absolutely love to revisit!

Loved this hotel so much, we took advantage of the spa services and it was one of the best decisions I've made. I love the new redesign of this hotel as it feels more luxe and cozy. This bed was so comfortable and the pool was also amazing! The views are beautiful even if you're not in ocean front as you have a very beautiful view of the Mourne Mountains & just beautiful greenery. We ended up adding a night here because we forgot to book a hotel for one of our nights & I'm so glad we did. I would come back just to come back here. Staff was super friendly & the food and drinks here were exceptional.

Very opulent but quality and service did mot live up to expectations. Room was not serviced all day until we called to request it. Rooms were dark and oppressive, but views were excellent. Restaurant food for dinner was under seasoned and not very inspired. I would think a hotel of this grandeur would offer better. Buffet breakfast was bountiful for sure, with something for everyone. Pool overlooking the ocean was very nice, with the most powerful poolside massage jets that I have ever experienced.

Yes, yes, and YES! Came here for work and was blown away by the service, ambiance, and rooms. Awesome stay. Can't wait to come back

Excellent hotel in a wonderful small town. Proximity to the course is great. Breakfast is solid. Room was large and in great condition. Staff is very nice. Dinner was just ok so probably would go into town for that next time. But would definitely stay here again.

Be prepared to be shamefully ripped off. We stayed overnight to enjoy a wedding and this place not only puts the arm in, it's the whole torso. My immediate family spent well over £2k in under 24 hours on accommodation & refreshments. For those who've not been, this hotel has a spectacular setting almost on the sea, nestled by the Mourne mountains with beautiful grounds, lots of parking. The staff. Overworked, delightful and, for most, unlikely to be paid living wage despite the fact that everything is hugely overpriced: awful tasting coffee £4 - 330ml coke £4 or £6.88 for a pint of coke, over £13 for a glass of red wine, £1 for a splash of lime and £5.5 to £5.8 for a pint of beer. The hotel didn't sell alcohol in the morning before 1pm - so maximising profits through soft drinks, coffee & tea. The room. We upgraded but it wasn't overly spacious. The room was cleanish. No bottled water. Low grade tea/coffee; all left unused. A schoolteacher would say 3 out of 5, room for improvement. Bath/shower excellent. The food surprised us, but not in a good way. It was all terribly poor indeed. Ok I get it with wedding parties/speeches so food isn't always served at the optimum but the cold starter chicken Caesar style salad was more from the long abandoned nouvelle cuisine style, not so much characterised by lighter, more delicate dishes, but more a portion so mean and flavourless to be a waste of a chefs time and underwhelming tasteless for diners. Put shortly: vapid. Moreover, having to keep food warmed through speeches should never stop a confident cook salting and adding butter to potato mash to make it flavourful, I mean isn't that the point? My main was a feather-blade beef cut. My beef was 5 star - this was the exception - NI hospitality remains plagued with a 'do ye rightly' attitude. It's around a lifetime via lousy senior management. We are often poorly served: as was the case here. The breakfast was far worse, yet it all looked so appetising on paper. Seven of us around three tables all agreed it was the worst food we had served in as long as we could recall. The awful, grey looking potato bread wasn't properly cooked; it seemed pre frozen, maybe frozen all through lock down. It was unpleasant and stodgy. The eggs are menu described as free range. I can't definitively disagree but the yolks of all the eggs served to all us and around us had uniform vivid bright orange yolks. Free range yolks in my long experience tend to be much more variable in hue and straw yellow colour. One of our party chose scrambled. She said she has never tasted worse. She disliked all the food on her plate. She thought the eggs were factory produced out of plastic litre bottles. I asked for mushrooms but the waiter never returned - I wasn't disappointed. In keeping with the cheap and cheerless theme prevalent here, the breakfast coffee was rancid and the black tea low grade. My porridge was poorly made. I was offered whiskey for breakfast porridge. I declined (it just might make the coffee palatable). I note the directors of this chain don't reply to reviews. It's a pity. Worse still, they appear not to make improvements from them either. It's actually bad faith really. When customers pay top dollar and make pay days the least reciprocity must be notable quality, but it's not in evidence here. I thought Wu flu would teach them not to rip customers off - in my view they are ROM's - Rip Off Merchants. This makes it 1 star. One director was recently on tv, annoyed that a concert in one of his hotels by Mr Van Morrison - a good songwriter who had a very successful personality bypass - had been cancelled by a politician. This director would be better served visiting the kitchen at this hotel to suffer the lousy food that he was happy to see put up to us for 2 days, and sort it out. I suggest he finds quality potato bread, nitrate free bacon, real free range eggs, 90% pork meat sausages, a few more staff and folk who not only know good food but know how to cook it properly. He should source great black tea, say Suki. If he goes across the street from this hotel - Railway St - buys a flat white at the coffee brew bar (at £2.8 it's £1.20 less than the price of his muck) and tastes it compared to the rubbish coffee his ROM business serves at extortionate prices it may be a revelation: great coffee fair priced. Who knows he may actually do something useful in good faith for future guests instead of just rifling their pockets - but can he get away from a 'do ye rightly' ROM? Time will tell but I'll not hold my breath. I'm conscious we'll all run out of time before we run out of money while waiting. I'm not wasting more of my time reviewing their Percy French restaurant separately; we had a next day late lunch barbecue there: just think low grade, cheap, burger van food that you'd find late night outside a football game or a pub waiting for drunks but with this hotel's ROM prices.

The Slieve Donard Hotel offers unrivaled luxury in so many areas... Firstly there's the scenery - to the right (if you're looking out from the hotel entrance) you can see the Mourne Mountains. The mountains slope down in to the County Down coastline and on to the golden beaches. You'd be hard pushed to find views like this anywhere in the world. The hotel is elegant and classy without being dated. I'd say the one thing that holds the hotel back is the rooms. For a five star hotel they do not come equipped with all the mod cons. Our room was on the fourth floor and had a spectacular view of the mountains but it didn't have a fridge the reason I say this is because this sums up the rooms. You sacrifice some of your modern comforts for old fashioned scenery. We attended a wedding at the hotel and the staff couldn't have been more helpful. Everything task they completed was done the correct way. The bar at the hotel is expensive - be prepared to pay £10 for a glass of prosecco and over £5 for a pint of lager or beer. I was actually going to give the hotel four stars, that was until I went to the Spa! It was a different level. The best feature was the infinity pool/hot tub looking out on the sea. It was incredibly relaxing and great for shaking off a hangover. Unfortunately we didn't have time to get a treatment but the pool, hot tub and steam room was enough indulgence for one day. If you haven't been to the Slieve Donard I'd highly recommend it - the spa and the scenery are it's main selling points!

I've stayed at the Slieve Donard for business twice now and my experience has been different each time. The first time I stayed there, I was confused by all the rave reviews my co-workers had given the place. Nothing was bad....I just didn't see anything special beyond a fancy lobby. My room was nothing to write home about....and you had to buy internet access as best I could tell. However, I my second stay was much more inline with what I'd heard from my coworkers. The room was amazing and the grounds were much more than just a fancy lobby. The spa there at the resort is seriously cool and I really wish I'd had the opportunity to give it a shot while I was there. There was even free, easily accessible, internet access this time as well. So why only a 4 star review instead of a 5 if everything was great? Because in talking with other coworkers whom were there for the same meeting, I learned that different parts of the hotel are up to different standards. Apparently that underwhelming room I stayed in the first time was still alive and well in the hotel. From what I can tell, the different floors in the hotel are finished differently. I was on the fourth (top) floor this time...so I can vouch for that. Beyond the hotel, I like that you can basically walk from the Slieve to nearly anywhere in Newcastle. Also, the waterfront walkways have gotten a nice upgrade since I was last there. Anyway, if you're going to be traveling near Newcastle, I'd recommend staying there....just be aware that your room might be awesome or it might be a bit plain.

Whenever we are in the vicinity of Belfast we try to stay at the Slieve Donard. The building is majestic and interesting. Or room is always spacious and warm. Our last time there, I lost my wallet on the premises, the evening before departing to a location south of Dublin (several hours away). A few days later, I was summoned to meet a courier in the lobby at our new location. Standing there was a gentleman from the Slieve Donard with an envelope containing all my cash, my cards, and identification. I was dumbfounded. The courier refused my offer of a cash reward and quickly departed for the long drive back to Belfast. Two years later I still can't believe it. We are going back this July and you bet your sweet bippy we're staying at the Slieve Donard!

Nice Spa Hotel and Golf Resort facing directly the beautiful Irish Coastline. Hotel is one of the top class resorts I've seen in Irland. After it's refurbishment they have added a 1st class SPA area with large pool and extensive gym + sauna. The pool has a great views to the coast. Rooms are new and having a well equipped standard, but missing the mini bar ;) Hotel Bar is well sorted and the hotel deiner can be really recommended. Full Irish breakfeast is in most rates included and offers the whole international variety of food. Located within 4 min Wallung distance from NewCastles lovely "downtown" area with small Bars and Restaurants. Defenitely a good choice in this area!!

We had a recent family weekend at the Slieve Donard and I really wanna go back! I don't think it has achieved 5 star status and I'm really not sure why. I have stayed in 5 star hotels in London which don't come anywhere close to the standard of this place. We had booked a family room and were delighted with the huge room we were given which had two king size beds. I hate it when a family room turns out to be a double room with a saggy sofa bed shoe horned in. We made full use of the pool area which has sooo got the WOW factor. Guests have use of the pool, sauna and steam room, but for me the most impressive part was the enormous spa pool which looks directly out to the sea and mountains. Totally stunning. There is also a fitness room with state of the art equipment which I studiously ignored. Our weekend break included an evening meal in the bar which was really good. My children are notoriously fussy but even they enjoyed their home made chicken gougons. Breakfast the next morning was great - lovely fresh fruit, pastries and of course a full Ulster Fry. Yum. The Slieve Donard is in a beautiful location and even I enjoyed a walk along the shore to walk off breakfast. For more serious walkers, you're right in the Mournes, so knock yourself out.

This majestic hotel is located on the beach overlooking the town of Newcastle. The rooms are large and very comfortable with heating and cooling. Breakfast was a decent spread of the usual, eggs, bacon, sausages, baked beans, muffins, fruit etc. in addition you can also order kippers. It is handy to be able to walk over to the Royal County Down Golf Club. Certainly a nice hotel for a golfing trip.

Lovely, relaxed hotel in a stunning location overlooking the beautiful Mourne mountains. Very comfortable bed, great shower and a really impressive spa and swimming pool area with a sauna with a view and huge, properly hot hot tub! Very friendly, helpful and attentive staff also. Thoroughly enjoyed our visit and hope to return soon!

A luxurious hotel with spectacular views of the Mourne mountains and out to the Irish sea, the rooms are very spacious with the largest bed I have ever seen and the en suite bathroom is modern with an enormous shower-head for one of those 'downpour' style showers! The breakfast spread was extensive and has more food than you need for a day! One star is missing because my girlfriend and I arrived dressed for exploring the great outdoors and the door-staff greeted us in a way that suggested that we did not look like their 'normal' clientele but I can't fault the rest of our time there.

The Slieve Donard is a very impressive building in itself - if you were to find yourself standing at the lower carn at the top of the mountain it's named after, so you could stare at the town, this gigantic sandstone-coloured building is the really stand-out feature of the town. It reminds me a bit of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining. I've stayed over here a couple of times and have to say that the standard is well deserving of its five stars. Beautifully high-ceilinged, impressive rooms, awesome food (notably the desserts). Thankfully nothing as spooky as the aforementioned Overlook. Brilliant location, too, should you own a pair of hiking boots. Strap them on, leave the car in the car park and in five minutes you can find yourself trekking up a path beside the Glen River on your way up Donard or Commedagh.

The Afternoon Tea consisted of a selection of finger sandwiches (including Glenarm Organic Smoked Salmon with cream cheese, as well as Irish chicken breast with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, red onion and mayonnaise.) The sandwiches were followed by, not only scones which is the 'norm', but also fruit loaf and lemon drizzle cake. Finally, the selection of pastries included traditional macaroons, red velvet cupcakes and dark and white chocolate mousse. Great desserts! The food was complimented by a selection of speciality teas and coffees. I chose a nice fruit tea. We actually didn't finish it all (and it's not often I say that!) Luckily, we were able to take the rest home with us so significant other halves could 'celebrate' too! The afternoon tea costs £20pp and is in a lovely suite overlooking the sea and Mourne Mountains. Definitely a good choice with those with a sweet tooth!

Disappointing, had to be removed from room because of the stench of smoke coming from the ridiculous bus shelter type smoking area plonked right in front of the "health Spa" and below my room. The designer of that needs a word in his ear and the hotel owners need to remove that disgusting shed. Next day tried the spa, not wearing very well missing tiles and a number of maintenance issues needing addressed. Spa chemical levels must have been untested and unchecked as the foam was covering the complete spa and the body fat around the tiles looked like it was there to stay. The evening dinner we had was very good for a carvery and the staff were fantastic. The choice of wine was also very good. Breakfast was faultless again with the great staff and vast choice of healthy or other

I'm going to upset the apple cart here and give this impressive looking hotel only 3 stars, I'm mad as hell because I thought I would be opting for the full 5 on this review, but as always I must be honest and report what I truely find. The building itself and the setting right on the coast is impressive, and the view spectacular for sure with the sea on one side and Slieve Donard on the other, I can see why it's a popular wedding venue, the photos would be great! We were a little early to check in so headed to the spa for a bit of a relax, on the way stopped at the lovely little cafe beside the pool and had a quick bite, I had a salmon and cream cheese bagel and the OH had a tuna sandwich, all very tasty and nice, a slight gripe was with your tea and coffee supposedly you are offered a free traybake, we saw the traybakes fly past, but none of them flew onto our plates, maybe we looked like we didn't need one...still the offer would have been nice. Onto the spa, very nice! A decent sized pool, plenty of lounge chairs, large hot tub overlooking the sea, sauna, steam and 2 showers to cool off. We spent a lovely few hours there chilling out. The products they use at the spa are called ESPA and are fabulous, so all refreshed we headed to the room. A decent size overlooking the front lawn, but the first thing I noticed was that you could hear absolutely EVERY NOISE in the hallway, from children running up and down screaming to other guests laughing, good job I had earplugs with me! But this is the thing, it's an old hotel so I guess you can't expect the same degree of room noise reduction as in modern hotels, but when the door was shut a beam of light streamed in from under the door....actually it annoyed me so much I got up in the middle of the night and popped the cushions from the bed at the door to block the light, not a major fault just more annoying really. So far we were pretty happy with the hotel, complimentary bathrobe to use, slippers etc all luxurious and pretty much what you would expect from a hotel of this standard. Free wifi in the bedroom and public areas of the hotel which was great. BUT where the place is really let down is the food. We went down to dinner early, there were another 4 tables of guests so it was far from busy, the menu wasn't great for my dietary requirements, I asked the waiter if there was a vegetarian starter option, he returned to say "melon or soup" no offer of a nice starter, now it was howling a gale and 5 degrees so my only choice of melon was unwelcome (the soup choice was ghastly) I have to say when the melon arrived it was the most unappetising looking thing ever, it was soggy and had obviously been sitting an age, not what I expected from a fine hotel. The main course arrived and I could in all honesty say I got a child's portion size, really it was so small looking,we were very disappointed, the OH got a lamb shank which was nice apparently, but it was sitting on quite literally a teaspoon of potato, a small dish of vegetables between us and that was it. There was a solo diner near us who actually got a dish of veg all to himself, and a group of 3 across who got the same sized dish for all of them, so they must only allow 1 dish per table. It was quite frankly a mean, miserable dinner, to the point where we quite honestly wondered if there was a McDonalds nearly. Unimpressed to say the least. Breakfast was a buffet style affair, the usual cereals porridge etc, and fried stuff, one good thing is that they offer quorn sausage, but you need to ask for them the moment you sit down as they take an absolute age to cook, the OH asked for a fried egg and it took 20 minutes, the breakfast was standard, but it's hard to fuck up pouring a few bowls of granola and setting out bread and preserves, it's not difficult. We checked out at 11 which is a bit earlier than the usual 12 in most hotels. The verdict? Nice location, fabulous view, good spa, crap food, overpriced and trading on its reputation which won't last much longer unless they improve. Wouldn't be dying to go back.

Wonderful stay here, has to be the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in. stunning sea view and looking out to the beautiful Mourne Mountains. Dinner was very nice and well presented, only let down was the choice of drinks in the bar. Big plus is the Spa, outstanding, worth the visit alone

Stayed here for the weekend. It is a lovely looking hotel from the outside and we were looking forward to staying. But it didnt quite meet expectations. It was OK but nothing special. Room was quite small and although it was a sea view the window was so small and high up you could only see the see if you stood right up at the window. Food at dinner looked lovely but we didnt eat in the hotel. Like all hotels drinks are very expensive. Spa area was nice but bit strange sitting in jucuzzi looking at the car park and people looking in. Past the car park is the sea. Lift to the spa area is slightly stange in that the doors of the lift are clear and you can see all floors and in between them as the lift descends. OK hotel, but dont think I would want to stay again. Expensive.

Stayed in the Slieve Donard, used the Spa it was deal packaged that included dinner for one night in Percy French restaurant, the staff who interacted with us was all a positive experience. The Spa was again a good experience for us, however this was our first Spa massage and have nothing else to compare it against., as for the rest of the spa and the pool, gym it is what you expect it to be. As stated before the prices for drinks are expensive