Castle Durrow

We often come here for Sunday Lunch and have never disappointed. The castle is fully restored and is over 300 years old. The staff are excellent and are truly professional. The food is excellent and a great choice of menu. There are beautiful gardens at the rear of the castle and safe for children. The prices are fair and service good.
We had our daughter Hollie christening at Castle Durrow and we had a delightful day. Our friends enjoyed the great quality food and excellent service from the Castle Staff.
There was a excellent choice of menus and there was nothing but clean plates.
We stayed overnight and our room is amazing. There was separate room for our children next to our bed room. We can’t wait for breakfast.
We can recommend this venue enough for the first timer and excellent venue for Weddings.
Just take my word for it, try for yourself.
I hope you find this review helpful. Enjoy!

I was here for a wedding and boy do they know how to do weddings here in Castle Durrow.
The drinks reception was out the back, in the garden and you really couldn’t ask for a more perfect setting,
The room the reception itself was in was wonderful. The staff were excellent. The food was amazing. Everything really appeared to go like clock work.
After dinner everyone went outside to chat and mingle the night away. The heatwave we were experiencing made it feel like the Mediterranean.
After the reception room closed, we made our way to the hotel bar. Greeted by a very affable bartender, he was able to give a history of a few of the pelts and stuffed animals displayed in the room. He was a good laugh too.
It’s only fabulous, Castle Durrow. A great day and night was had by all.

Wow, what a place. I’m surprised Castle Durrow doesn’t have more 5 star reviews to be honest!
Myself and my partner attended a wedding here and decided to splash out and stay overnight in one of the rooms in the castle itself. The interior was lush but not OTT, a nicely old world homely (if palatial) feel with odd little modern touches.
The food was divine, with great use of fresh herbs, and boy was there plenty of it. And the staff were by far the most efficient and friendly bunch I have ever encountered when staying at a place like this (we’ve stayed at a fair few over the past few years; ah to have a group of friends all at that marrying age!). Kudos to the staff!
Yes, it is expensive, no doubt about it, but boy is it worth it. The grounds are idyllic, you can wander about to your hearts content; lie on the grass, wander though an avenue of cherry blossom, a walled garden filled with flowers, herbs and a small veg patch and a woodland path. I read that there are looped walks from between 1 to 6 hours that you can do around the area, sadly we didn’t have time to explore them, but I certainly hope we will return for a romantic getaway; I can’t think of a nicer place for one!

My cousin had her wedding here a week ago this April. After a bit a touring of Ireland, we came to the castle. It’s not much of a castle, actually being an old school, but it was very charming. They have many unique room options (my parents stayed in the England room, which had a 4 poster bed and rose wallpaper, while our room was more traditional but held the same charm)
The lobby is the main room here, with other rooms off to the side. One of the those rooms is the bar/​lunch room and following that room (straight back) is the library with more lunch/​bar seating. Seating is mixed with leather couches with coffee tables and chairs with circle dinner tables. Lunch menu had things like sandwhiches, soups, and burgers. The chicken salad was good, the burger was better. The veggie soup was unlike any I have seen and I regret not trying some; everyone loved it. Next to the bar and the library (the 2^nd door off the lobby) is the hallway which leads either upstairs to the guest rooms or down the hall to the door leading outside to the garden. The garden is home to a few more guest rooms with private enterences, the garden and grounds, and a path with extends to the furthest room which is used for receptions.
The staff was far more friendly then any other people we met while on our visit to Ireland. We made it a point to visit the bartender (John) every night we were there to talk. The bar here is very laid back and it also never closes… which is a plus, esp for an Irish wedding!
The wedding was long… no one ever tells the American how long the wedding will last, in my opinion, to see how long they will last before heading to bed. My husband and I lasted until 3am, but that’s besides the point. The food was amazing! The canopies (cocktail hour munchies) were less then good… just weird. The scones were good, not too hard. For dinner, I had the sea bass. it was perfect. There were so many things to eat I cant even begin to remember what we had. I know there was butterbut squash soup which was good, and they had some weird chocolate & rasion bread pudding which made me sick (bread pudding… it’s deff. better plain). The décor was simple, slightly modern chic. It was nice. I think the thing that highlighted best was the gardens and the hall outside. I spent much of my time trying to get out of that crowed room and even though it was raining a bit, I prefered to be outside away from the loud noise. Very good conversation outside as well, and the gardens helped the atmosphere a great deal!
The pictures were also very pretty and memorable.
If you’re going for lunch or for a wedding, you will be equality happy with this hotel. Alougth there isnt much of a town here you wouldnt notice once inside the gate.

I went here with some friends for a bite to eat of a Sunday afternoon. Before I went there I learned that the restaurant only opens evening time, and that there was only a limited bar menu available during the daytime,
The food turned out to be very good, way more than I exepcted, despite the limited selection available. However the setting and the service more than made up for this, and we were well catered for, vegetarians and all. I found the service very friendly.
It’s pricey — you won’t see a lot of change out of € 50 for brunch for 3 people, but it’s a beautiful, quiet location, and you can stroll the castle grounds afterwards.
A nice treat.

Stunning Blue Book hotel in a restored ‘Big House’ in country Laois. The bedrooms are luxurious and elegantly decorated, and the main areas retain an uncontrived atmosphere of the eighteenth century ascendency culture. The garden also, are spectacular.