Ready to hear all about a hotel that offers not only a luxurious, relaxing stay with delicious food but also won't break the bank like some other hotels might? Myself and Dara spent the past weekend as guest of the stunning Midlands Park Hotel and I was so excited to share this gem of a hotel with you all that I actually started working on this blog post as soon as I got home from our trip to Portlaoise! When I mentioned on my Instagram story that we were heading up to the Midlands Park Hotel, straight away I had at least 5 messages all raving about the hotel, which actually doesn't happen too often so I knew we were in a for a treat. Kelly's Steakhouse was also mentioned a few times which had Dara and I very excited for dinner as we had booked in there for 6pm. Upon arrival to the hotel (which was only just over an hour and fifteen minutes away from us which is a nice change from lots of hotels in Dublin/Cork) we were greeted by such lovely, friendly staff which is another thing that the people messaging me on Instagram had mentioned.
The Room:
We stayed in one of the hotel's suites which are actually located in a separate building to the main hotel but are still connected to the hotel by a walkway meaning that it's a nice, quite area. Our suite was room 505 or the Glenbarrow suite and honestly, it was the most incredible hotel room/suite that I have ever had the pleasure of staying in. Firstly it was HUGE, with really high ceilings, a massive window and so much space that Dara and I were joking that we could happily live there 24/7 and not feel cramped! The room was gorgeously decorated, with a rich purple colour scheme, plush carpets and even a chandelier. Like the title of this post suggests, the bed was the comfiest bed I have ever slept in, it was like sleeping on an actual cloud and I woke up feeling so well rested. Even Dara, who struggles to get a good nights sleep anywhere but his own bed slept like a baby which really says something.
Our suite also had a sofa in front of a huge tv which to our delight had Netflix so of course we ended up watching pretty much all of season 2 of Ozark. The hotel does have a pool and brilliant leisure facilities which I actually packed a swimsuit especially for, but in the end we just loved our room so much and the fact we could totally kick back and relax in front of the tv that we didn't end up making it down to check it out, but I think sometimes you need a nice, totally chilled weekend right?
As if the huge, comfy bed, the giant tv and sofa weren't enough, the Glenbarrow suite also had a walk in closet, a coffee machine, a separate toilet and the most magnificent bathroom. The bathroom was one of the things that had me saying "Wow" as soon as we walked into the room as it has a glass wall shower feature so you can see straight into the bathroom through the shower from the main bedroom room. The shower itself was actually a double rainfall shower so you could have a shower side by side with your other half if you wanted to. There was also a big bath in the bathroom which had a very cool water faucet (I think that's what you'd call it anyway) and some gorgeous toiletries from Rituals which were a real treat. This suite really did have every single thing you could want or dream of in a hotel room and the best part is that the price of the Midlands Park Hotel suites aren't that much more expensive than what you'd pay for a regular double room in some other hotels that I've stayed in. Particularly if you can stay on a week night, it's seriously good value for money. While we didn't experience the hotel's other room types, I can only imagine that the quality of them was just as good as our suite, and they are even more budget friendly if that's what you're looking for.
The Food:
If you've been following me on Instagram for any amount of time then it's probably very obvious that I seriously love food, so when lots of people were messaging me telling me how good the food in the Midlands Park Hotel was, specifically in the Kelly's Steakhouse, I couldn't wait to try it! Kelly's Steakhouse is right next to the hotel, and actually right below where our suite was. We had looked up the menu beforehand and it all sounded very delicious. I love when a menu has 3 or 4 different options that I'd love to try, although it does make deciding what to order that bit trickier because I'm very indecisive especially when it comes to food! I ordered the nachos for starters, 'The Smokey' burger for mains and the Rocky Road Hot Pot for dessert and Dara had the Caesar salad to start, the very interesting and exciting 16oz Hot Rock Sirloin of Beef for mains and the Warm Chocolate Fondant for dessert. After we had finished our meal we both agreed that it was one of the best we'd ever had. Every single bit of food was delicious and so well presented and we thoroughly enjoyed it. If you are planning on visiting Kelly's Steakhouse then I'd definitely recommend trying out the Hot Rock Sirloin of Beef. It's served on a volcanic rock that's been heated to 420 degrees so you can cook it exactly how you like it. Of course I had to try some of Dara's beef purely for the purpose of this post of course and I can attest to the fact that it was seriously yummy.
Breakfast in the Midlands Park Hotel was much like our dinner the evening before and didn't disappoint. There was a continental buffet with lots of pastries, fruit, cold meats and delicious blueberry muffins and then there was a breakfast menu so you could order whatever you wanted from the kitchen. Unusually for me, I didn't go for the Belgian waffles that would usually tempt me but instead had the traditional Irish breakfast and a lovely Java Republic cappuccino which was a nice surprise because I love good coffee. We were both pleasantly surprised at how fast our breakfast was served after we had ordered especially since we'd gone down for breakfast at 10am which is always when it's busiest. Again, like with the rest of our stay, the staff were so friendly and really attentive.
Reading back over this review it almost sounds like the hotel has paid me to rave about it but I can promise you that's not the case, I ain't that easy to buy! We genuinely enjoyed our stay in the Midlands Park Hotel so much and I couldn't recommend it enough. It's so lovely to find such a stunning hotel that I can recommend to you all knowing that it's on the more affordable side of things because we all need to treat ourselves to a break sometimes, right?
One thing I will mention just so this post isn't all me gushing over how much we loved the hotel is that parking is only included for guests who are staying on a B&B basis and is only covered from check-in at 4pm until check out at 12pm. For the time you spend there outside of that, you will have to pay for parking as the hotel doesn't own the carpark right next door, but that's the case with lots of other hotels that I've stayed in so it didn't bother us too much and certainly didn't taint our view of the hotel at all.
Thanks so much for reading this review and if you're looking for a lovely break away, I hope you strongly consider the Midlands Park Hotel! A big thank you must also be said to the wonderful staff at the hotel for making our stay so pleasurable and to the hotel for having us as their guests.