Name: Burren Atlantic Hotel
Address: Old Coast Road, Ballyvaughan, Ballyvaughan, Ballyvaughan, H91 T44P, Ireland
Rating: 4

24-hour reception

Smoke-free property

Terrace

General

Laundry

Concierge services

Luggage storage

Services and amenities

Breakfast

Restaurant

Meals

Picnic area

Recreation

Free parking

Parking

Business center

Business

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Temperature control for staff

Personal protection equipment for staff

Extra decontamination measures

Temperature control for guests

Personal protection equipment for guests

Contactless check-in and/or check-out

Additional measures against COVID-19

Health and Safety Measures

Location

At the hotel

Shannon Airport

Burren Atlantic Hotel

Ballyvaughan

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

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23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

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3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

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39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

"The Burren Atlantic Hotel - A Guide"
 
We arrived to an empty reception with a phone number to call. A man answered the phone. He seemed surprised to be honest, as though he expected us to let ourselves in. He arrived about 15 mins later and duly checked us in. He gave us instructions about the heating that I have yet to decipher but he informed me I'd figure it out. 

The house was a little smelly but I'd get over that. There were one or two dead flies on the bed but again it could be forgiven. 

However, the bed sheets were dirty and this was a little disappointing. They were stained and had one or two questionable curly hairs on them too. The fireplace didn't seem to work which again really dampened the experience. The shower also had serious issues as it seamlessly switched between scalding hot and freezing cold with no encouragement. 

Things began to look up though when the flies came back to life. Or rather their friends joined us. In their droves. Any I opened a window or moved a curtain, the fly population in the house would multiply. 

The truth of it all is, this facility has loads of potential but it appears to be managed by this one man who is only interested in taking your money. 

When we checked out and went to drop our key off at reception, the door was locked and by good luck I still had his number to call him. He told me generally we just leave the key in the flat! Again no interest in the customers experience. 

That's pretty much it, except that I forgot to mention they didn't even supply toilet roll. 

An absolute joke of a place. Please please stay somewhere else.

The Burren Atlantic Hotel - A Guide

Want to keep this as short and sweet as possible, I would need tablets in order to consider staying here again. Myself and the wife read the reviews like you are reading this, though hey how bad can it be we are only staying for one night, it was the worst possible case scenario 

The owner is an aul lad, fair play to him he doesn’t yet require the Zimmer frame. He checked us in without saying 5 words.

There is noway this is a hotel, there was no facilities, the bar was closed then we seen the aul lad/ owner was in the kitchen making a sambo and came out to us, he offered to open the bar. 

Again we thought hey how bad can it be. We had a whiskey/ gin as I wouldn’t trust a pint in that place. 

The basic essentials  you expect when paying for a service was missing. 

If we had kids we would have stayed somewhere else. No question about this.  I feel this hotel has broken up relationships. 

Would not recommend this hotel to the stray dog

We read the reviews and thought, can’t be that bad, it was actually worse

Can understand some of the negative commentary around this facility but in general we were happy with our stay there. The house was clean and tidy, the location is fantastic. There was a nice playground for our 3yo to enjoy. 

A pity the hotel is not fully open. It's not possible to get food there. 

Some of the small things you'd expect in self catering facilities such as tea towels, hand soap, washing up liquid were missing. The washing machine wasn't working. 

The owner seems grand but perhaps a bit disinterested in the place. 

Great potential... Superb location.. Needs work.

We really enjoyed our trip to county clare until we got to the Burren Atlantic Hotel & Holiday village..  when we arrived we were greeted with the finest smell of damp and a very quiet reception. A man came out who asked cash or card and handed us the keys not to even tell us what number room ,nor any small talk about food, facilities nevermind a somewhat warm reception you would usually recieve at a "hotel". When we found our room through the disguisting smells in the hallway the bedroom was no better. The pillow cases werent even clean, the dust and spiderwebs around the room was horrid. When it was time for some grub I asked the man at reception do they have a bar or resturant for food with a short reply of no i asked for recommendations to be given a kebab takeaway is all. Thankfully a kind lady in the service station nearby was very helpful with helping us find somewhere to eat and thankfully we managed to get some food. This place has great potential as it has the "hotel" and apartments but unfortunately its horrendous and ran to the ground. Considering the price for 1 night, not a bit of food no assitance at all I would advise everyone not to even consider this place. The dust had us so chesty it was vile and to find out the resturant and bar was closed due to the health inspectorate closing it down was the tip of the iceberg. We searched the whole village for somewere to stay for the night with no avail which wasnt surprising considering being here at peak tourist time..

Defo wont be returning

We had a great family trip to Clare but unfortunately the reviews are 100% accurate and the accommodation in The Burren Atlantic is horrendous. We stayed in the holiday homes beside the hotel and we were greeted with broken appliances, a room that you couldn't open from the inside, no hot water and a lack of willingness by management to rectify any of the issues. When we reported that the washing machine wasn't working, an employee of the hotel came to try and fix it when we were out of the house and when we arrived back we couldn't access the property because he had wedged a chair behind the front door instead of locking it. We only realised this when we gained entry to the property through the back door....the washing machine wasn't fixed either. The "Spa" was full of old towels and bed linen that had yet to be washed - most likely the reason for no towels in the property when we arrived. When I went to query if the restaurant or bar was open, I was greeted at reception by a lady whose first comment was, " Are you here to make a complaint?". I wasnt surprised to hear such a comment considering I had read the recent reviews at this stage. I was told that the restaurant was closed as the chef went back to Dublin and they couldn't get staff to open it. I read an article in the Irish Times today reporting why the restaurant was closed and it was in fact due to infestations in the kitchen and not a relocation of their chef. Hopefully the hotel and holiday homes are taken over by new management in time to come as they have great potential but until then - AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

Not Recommended

You really need to heed the warnings in the reviews for this property – they are not to be ignored!   The very vast majorty of people who go on a holiday or break away haven’t got time to review places as they just want to get on with enjoying themselves. I am one of those people. But when a place is being run so poorly, with such poor standards of service, minimum delivery of what you are paying for and dare I even say it in an “unsafe” manner, then you have to write a review. The second reason to write this review is because only a downturn in bookings at this property will change things. The owners and “manager” will quite happily continue to run this place into the ground while taking full and often overpriced bookings from unsuspecting guests.  The first thing to say is that I am going to Ballyvaughan and Fanore for roughly 20 years, its one of my favourite places in the world. And I’ve stayed in numerous guest houses, B&B’s and holiday homes. The area is stunning, everywhere else I have stayed has been absolutely fine, the people are fantastic and the restaurants and bars are all superb. I’ve never had a bad time here.  I first stumbled across these houses when they were first opened, then post the flood damage which caused significant damage to the houses and area in Ballyvaughan, and most recently in the last few weeks. What we experienced this latest visit was so bad, that had I not had kids with me, I would have run out the door and just gone home.  For starters, this place is being run by one single person from what I see and what other reviewers have posted. “Kevin” is the so called manager. On the day we were checking in at 3pm, we received a phone call at 2pm to tell us there would be no towels in the property. No qualms at all about telling us there was nothing he’d be able to do and when I challenged him on this in person at reception he merely said “If you don’t like it, you don’t have to stay here, but I can’t do anything for you”. End result was we had to drive to Enistimon and purchase towels. They then took FULL payment in advance plus €150 on top as a holding deposit.  The Hotel reception was shabby, dirty and clear that it gets very little use or care from staff or Kevin. Bits of rooms lying around in corners, toilets out of order with hand written signs on doors.  Then you get to the houses! We had a two bed bungalow. Doors were left wide open when we arrived, including the fridge door, which meant it took hours before anything was cooled that we put into it. No freezer. The outside of the houses are absolutely filthy and clearly the grounds are not being maintained. All of the windows were a nightmare to open (it was a particularly good few days of weather). Some looked like they may break if you were not careful (maybe part of the plan with the €150 HOLDING DEPOSIT). One bedroom had a double bed with linen on it hugely stained. The wardrobe was so close to the foot of the bed that it could not open. The main bedroom was marginally better as it had enough space to walk around the bed and was ensuite.  The main bathroom was disgusting. The shower had a door missing meaning water went everywhere (was found in the utility room). Fixings for towels and toilet roll all hanging off the wall. Which was no big deal as they don’t even supply a single toilet roll anyway, never mind towels! The toilet was not fixed into place and shifted when anyone used it. The shower unit was positioned in the shower in such a way that you had to lean into the wall to get any water, not that it was hot as that didn’t work either for the four days we were there.  The living room is fine, TV there with limited few channels on it. Kitchen was barely useable. Very dirty in the shelves and very questionable if the plates etc were washed since the last occupants. Egg embedded on the egg cups suggests probably not. Not enough knives for four people. No washing up liquid, tea towels or dish washer tablets to be found, so had to go buy these. This despite having to have the dish washer empty and everything washed being one of the rules.  The daily battle to open a window in the living room without breaking it was a stress.  There is a decking at the rear, grounds around it are over grown and I’m certain a health hazard. But it was the death trap of a hole in the decking with sharp pieces of wood pointing and providing a hole for any kid to fall into that was the most dangerous thing about the rear of the house. This is the kind of thing you would have expected to find in a Vietnam war movie or Rambo!!  On the table was an information Sheet about how the heating worked for hit water (it didn’t!) and so on. Any problems it invited you to ring a person and provided a phone number or knock into house #14. When I rang the number the person told me they had stopped working for the hotel in 2011 but they won’t take the number off the sheet.  There is no WiFi. A common issue in the area in fairness and no biggie. But don’t believe them when they say there is.  These properties were modern, well run and well maintained for a long time. They clearly are being run into the ground now while the owners (a holiday home company from Limerick I believe) and this Kevin fella take the money and run. This is not an isolated incident. I foolishly presumed they would be okay to stay in given my experience there in years past. This will be your experience here if you book with them, and not a single ounce of care will be shown by Kevin or the owners. I feel so sorry for the one or two young people working there who were probably hoping to get some decent experience, I hope they know that this is everything that should NOT be done when in the hospitality and tourism sector.   Oh, just to add, there was old meat on the chopping board, not enough cutlery for a house of four, the drainer was rusted and unsafe to use, not a bar of soap, toilet roll or washing up liquid in the place, you couldn’t open some of the doors and windows, the children’s playground has large rocks in the ground exposed right where the kids slide down from slides or swing, and there are mounds of towels and line. Just piled up everywhere you look.   Do not ignore the reviews. Do not stay here. Plenty of wonderful guest houses, hotels and holiday homes in Ballyvaughan and surrounding area.

Do NOT stay here - read the reviews

Had a terrible stay in Ballyvaughan. No hot water, not enough towels and skidmarks on the bed sheets. Kevin the owner was not helpful at all and had no interest in fixing anything.

 I met some young boys at the local pitch and they said that we made a massive mistake staying there and that Kevin is a disgrace to the village. The local lads were very very nice like and one of the good parts to our stay.

Avoid at all costs

Paid on check in, once paid up the rude receptionist and owner told us there were no bath towels, which we accepted, as hand towels were available. We felt like an inconvenience to him. What the owner didn't tell us was that there was no hot water, that evening or the following morning. I spoke with owner about this on check out, he just shrugged his shoulders. I won't be going back despite the lovely bed.

Do not stay here

We arrived at hotel after 3 hr drive to find there was  no room available, even though booking was confirmed by hotel and booking. com. The receptionist said there was nothing he could do and the manager Refused to see us. While we were there, another couple arrived and had the same problem. We got no help at all from the hotel but we went to The Hylands Hotel to check for vacancies. The receptionist there (Zoe), spent 30mins trying to get us a room locally, eventually getting us a room in Doolin. We found out later that this is a common occurrance with The Burren Atlantic Hotel 

DO NOT STAY at Burren Atlantic Hotel 

I stayed here recently with some friends and found it ideal for us.
We stayed at the self catering houses  on the hotel grounds. The houses were modern and clean and spacious. The view from the back is stunning and makes sitting outside really enjoyable.  
After reading the reviews on here (after we'd already booked), we were kind of worried about staying here but it was really really nice and I would go back.
The village and the whole area is stunning with lovely restaurants/tea rooms etc.
Would definitely recommend.

Burren Atlantic Hotel

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