Aaaarrrrrghhh!!! I'm so frustrated that this hotel wasn't as brilliant as it should have been.. The asthetics of the place are faultless - the garden, the bar, the room, the restaurant (unbelievable! In a good way) and everywhere else really looks the part... But how annoying that the service didn't live up to that standard! Don't get me wrong, the service wasn't bad in any way - it just wasn't 5*! I expected and wanted to be treated like gold, be waited on at my table in the bar, and just generally wanted to not lift a finger! Instead, I found myself trying to catch the attention of a barman!

Ok, so I'm clutching at straws, but I did leave feeling a little (only a little) let down by the lack of attentiveness!

Otherwise, the room was great, and I really really enjoyed my stay.

Would I return - absolutely! I'm just being annoyingly picky!

To start with, when I arrived, the girl at reception didn't know that rate that I had booked under, tried to make me pay more, eventually gave up but looked disgruntled, and then put the hard sell on me about booking breakfast/ dinner/ putting down a deposit to use the minibar/ phone/ order room service, and gave me a bit of a "well, you'll be sorry" look when I declined, warning me that I wouldn't have access to the minibar or phone without this deposit.

To be honest, the room was good value - considerably less than the 3-star hotel down the road, and quite prettily decorated, but fancy table lamps do not a superb hotel make. Having offered kindly to give me a newspaper in the morning, when I checked out and was asked to pay for the newspaper, which I was perfectly happy to do - the place is in the middle of nowhere and there are no shops around - there was a real sense that they expected me to quibble, like they'd tagged me as a cheapskate.

I can't complain about the room, but I'm not sure I would call this a 5-star experience. Maybe it would have been different if I'd splashed the cash a bit, but I would also appreciate being able to chose how much money I want to spend without being frowned upon.

myself, my husband and our 3 year old child stayed here for one night while visiting Dublin on a last minute trip to dublin on a bank holiday weekend, we went to dublin for the day and stayed the night we found if very hard to find a room in any of the near by B&B's as the grounds and the hotel looks so wonderful we were worried it would be very expensive but we were very pleased with the rate for one night at such short notice.

The hotel is set in lovely grounds with the most wonderful and helpful staff and good food. In fact i would say the staff were the most helpful and Friendly I have come across in all my travels.

Our room was extremely comefortable, clean with wonderful views over the hotel gardens.

The bar offered a vast selection of drinks and quaint setting

I would recommend this hotel to anyone looking for a relaxing rest in Dublin. Also Dundrum Shopping was only about 5 -10 minutes away by car where we spent most of sunday morning.

The St Helens Hotel is probably one of the best hotels ive ever stayed in. The hotel is set in beautiful landscaped gardens, we stayed in a business class suite "The Redwood" it was bigger than we needed, but hey you only get married once, When i booked i mentioned that it was our honeymoon i amazed to find in our room a bottle of champagne, some chocolates and some roses for my wife, that for me set the standard for the hotel the entire stay.
Check in was smooth, Andrew knows his stuff and is very efficient, John the concierge also is very knowledgeable about local info.
The Talavera restaurant in the hotel is exquisite, authentic Italian cuisine, breakfast is also served in that restaurant which is also extensive and hearty.
All in all a beautiful hotel, amazing staff, i cannot praise this hotel enough.