Great National Hotel Ballina

4/10

Poor

18 Feb 2026

Shauna

Event being held in hotel till late disturbing sleep and no plugs beside the bed. Poor room facilities for a 4* hotel.

Business Self

10/10

Exceptional

12 Feb 2026

Katie

Everything was grea.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

07 Feb 2026

Paul

The pool was great. Comfy beds. Breakfast was nice. Super eggs. Telly was great. Bathroom nice and cosy. Spotless room.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

03 Feb 2026

Matthew

Room was clean. Shower was hot and powerful. Bed was one of the most comfortable beds I've ever experienced in a hotel.
Will definitely use again.

Business

4/10

Poor

11 Jan 2026

Trevor

Without doubt offers one of the poorest breakfast I have experienced in Ireland over many years of travel across the country on business. Poor food quality, poor chosie, poor sercice.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

19 Dec 2025

DESMOND

Courteous staff, very clean room good food.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

07 Dec 2025

Leanne

Everything was amazin

10/10

Exceptional

06 Dec 2025

David

Yes always a great stay . Been going there for many years

Business Self

10/10

Exceptional

30 Nov 2025

Donal

Excellent hotel with very helpful staff. Beds very comfortable & rooms spacious & quiet. Food was delicious.

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

27 Nov 2025

David

Rooms are very big, with high ceilings. Spotlessly clean though a bit basic and slightly dated. Food in the bar/restaurant was average. The bar area itself is a bit soulless and lacking in atmosphere. My biggest issue though was the pillows provided. They were made of a rubber filling and extremely dense, so there was no give in them which meant I stried to sleep with my head at a 90 degree angle to my bidy. Needless to say, not much sleep was had. Fix the pillows and the hotel would be spot-on.

Business

2/10

Poor

25 Nov 2025

William

The room was clean and tidy but freezing, the heating didn’t work and after telling the hotel staff they gave us a little blow heater. It was so cold in the room on the third night with the little heater on the condensation was so bad it was dripping off the roof onto the bed.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

24 Nov 2025

Richard

Very helpful staff

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

24 Nov 2025

Michael

Great team all round made stay perfect esp the swimming area

Leisure Family_with_children

8/10

Excellent

12 Nov 2025

John

Breakfast area could improve
Coffee machine not working
Toaster does not toast

Maybe you should improve on this for guest experience
Thanks

Business

10/10

Exceptional

28 Oct 2025

Anne Marie

Breakfast was delicious.
Room very comfortable.
Enjoyed a few lovely swims in the warm pool.
I would warmly recommend a stay and hope to return again.
Anne Marie

Friends_and_family Friends

8/10

Excellent

26 Oct 2025

russell

The only thing wrong was room 121 isn’t a deluxe double room which we booked.because two single beds is not a double and the view out of the window on to the back of the leisure Centre full of bags of dirty washing up to the window isn’t deluxe .that was there for the two days. Other than that yes I would stay again.

8/10

Excellent

25 Sep 2025

Karine

Grande chambre propre. Service courtois. Réserver d'avance si vous voulez vous détendre au spa ou un soin. Restaurant excellent mais service lent. Excellent drink.

Leisure Friends

6/10

Pleasant

21 Sep 2025

John

Big event on ,no warning came back from day out and main car park closed used overflow .then crowds 6 deep from entrance to main centre in the hotel had to force entrance to go to room .

10/10

Exceptional

06 Sep 2025

Michael

Handy Location

Business

8/10

Excellent

30 Aug 2025

Barrie

It is hard to describe the hotel. From first impressions the building is impressive and the foyer atra very spacious and grand. Check in was great and the staff on the desk were very friendly and efficient.
The room i had was a family one and it looked luke it needed a good update with stains on the carpet a small bathroom with damaged sink and just in need of a refurb. The room was very hot and the only means of cooling it was a window which when open let in a lot of outside noise from a smoking area to the rear of the hotel.
The barvatra was strange very open but very loud. The food wasnreasonable but quite expensive and the restaurant service was adhoc as they seemed under staffed. A lot of the seats in the place arr ripped andnit wasnt a good look. Breakfast at the hotel was buffet style and was good.
The pool area was good but busy and the changing arra again needed some care.
I didnt have a bad stay but i dont think i would be rushing back unless work was carried out to uodate the rooms and bar arra.
As a base to travel it was great and there are a few fantastic beaches and historical sites nearby.

Leisure Family

8/10

Excellent

23 Aug 2025

Mark

Great place for families. Lots of children in dining room playing cards with their parents. Amazing pool for playing and a lap swim area...20-25 meter pool. Comfortable beds and friendly front desk personnel.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

17 Aug 2025

Dan

Great staff and a great location. The beds were felling old and needed to be replaced.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

08 Aug 2025

John

Very nice spacious and comfortable resort type hotel with a large swimming pool. Staff were friendly and helpful. Breakfast buffet was available.

Leisure Self

6/10

Pleasant

12 Jul 2025

Jenny

Upgrades are more downgrades

It looks like its got an upgrade but the matress was hard and the edges stuck i you, the pillows where horrible and there was a humming sound coming from a white box above the door on the right hand side. Once that sound was in my head i couldnt sleep. Only 2 towels left but ive long hair and need one for that so disappointing. The water left had no lid on it, very strange.

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

12 Jul 2025

Suzanne

Great stay

Great stay. Very relaxing

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

24 Jun 2025

Vanessa

Great stay with family. Hotel clean, and well appointed. Young staff in dining area, really working hard.

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

13 Jun 2025

Jean

A great place to stay very good value lovely food n Great staff. Beds very comfortable Bar relaxing Breakfast very good

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

17 May 2025

Noel

The staff are lovely and the accommodation everything one would expect - but at a reasonable price. Had an enjoyable stay

Leisure Self

6/10

Pleasant

06 May 2025

Thomas

Disappointing Stay

The hotel gives a wow first impression as you enter. Reception was very good, we got in early and stayed in room 210. Was surprised as it was a double plus 2 singles. Room was good and comfotable and shower bathroom wss good. Decent dized room. Bar area was dull and dingey. Ate dinner which was ok but breakfast is the worst i can recall for a long time. Staff had to be asked for drinks, food was poor and dried out, been there a long time and limited selection. For example fruit was a slice of water melon. Sausages were terrible, eggs like bullet. Real shame as restaurant does not fit with rest of hotel which is a 40 minute walk into town. Pretty disappointed with stay to say the least. 9 stay on trip round Ireland and very poor really, especially for the money paid.

Partner

2/10

Poor

01 May 2025

Anastasia

Hotel staff was not attentive. The hotel was taken over by locals who were also protesting the establishment. Sketchy parking lot situation. Furniture is old and torn. Stains on the carpet.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

20 Apr 2025

Emilie

Great hotel

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

03 Apr 2025

Chris

Beautiful hotel with great welcome from staff and delicious breakfast!

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

28 Feb 2025

Ron

Was moved to a room that had better Wi-Fi coverage, a minor inconvenience but the staff were always most helpful. Everything else was very comfortable. Particularly enjoyed the swimming pool.. Had breakfast and a couple of evening meals which were a good standard. In the evenings the staff were faultless and I enjoyed the comfort with a pint of Guinness. Many thanks, I stayed for four nights and would recommend this hotel. Ron Sweeney.

Leisure Self

6/10

Pleasant

26 Feb 2025

Sailesh

Great staff, hotel needs TLC

Handy hotel with plenty of parking for business in area. A bit out of town but quiet. It’s getting very tired now. The rooms could do with a spruce up and updating. No sockets near or nearby the bed, in addition sockets near desk are taken up with kettle, etc.
bathrooms need updating as do 24inch TVs with very poor reception.

Bar has a limited menu but of a good standard.

Business

4/10

Poor

02 Jan 2025

Annette

Not a welcoming experience

At check in there was a training session going on and so I didn’t interrupt, but no one even acknowledged me, another customer came along and they looked after them before me, so we weren’t off to a good start. Swimming pool was cold and grotty, and there was no hot water in the room, which was very dated. Also there as gum stuck to my he remote of the tv, pretty gross. Dinner was good though.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

01 Jan 2025

Verified traveler

Excellent Customer Service

So our stay started off great! Lovey spacious family room with a smart tv to watch Netflix on so kids were delighted. However at around 12.30am the couple next door decided to have a domestic and our kids got scared listening to this. Adam the night porter moved us to another room within minutes of asking him. The room we got to smelled of smoke and paint which wasn’t ideal however the next morning we were moved to a similar room from the first night! In fairness the hotel couldn’t know that 2 w**kers would start killing each other but they done absolutely everything they could to facilitate us! Dinner was beautiful breakfast had a lot of choices and the staff were extremely helpful and friendly! I would recommend anyone to stay here it’s just outside the town so there’s no noise at night and a good nights sleep is guaranteed considering no one decides to be Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson next door to you!!
Thank you to everyone for your enjoyable and easy stay. We will be back again !!!

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

22 Dec 2024

Derek

Wry comfortable room. Excellent service from staff.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

11 Dec 2024

Gail

We had a fantastic stay we were there for a wedding. It was a lovely venue the food was amazing and the staff were all so helpful. We will definately return.

Leisure

10/10

Exceptional

20 Nov 2024

John

Noise

A lot of noise in hotel , walking around all night

Business

10/10

Exceptional

11 Nov 2024

David

It was as expected for a hotel with this rating.

Leisure Self

8/10

Excellent

30 Oct 2024

Declan

We had a good stay. Two issues the swimming was freezing given the weather at this time of year in the west of Ireland it would be good to have the pool warmer as the kids wanted out after 20-30mins due to it being to cold. The other the staff in hotel were lovely and very accommodating however they were very young and food service was at times slow. For breakfast in the morning it took a long time to refill the food items.

Leisure Family_with_children

10/10

Exceptional

13 Oct 2024

David

It as you would expect for a hotel of this rating

Leisure Self

8/10

Excellent

14 Sep 2024

Fintan

Easy to get to

10/10

Exceptional

03 Aug 2024

Marie

Lovely stay , great breakfast and pool
Facilities.
Wee spa treatment was the icing on the cake 😊

Leisure Family

8/10

Excellent

02 Aug 2024

Carl

Nice Hotel

This is a nice hotel with a good sized swimming pool

Business

10/10

Exceptional

14 Jul 2024

Ann

Had a lovely two night stay during the salmon festival.

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

03 Jul 2024

Catherine

The hotel was very impressive upon entry. The person who welcomed us at the front desk was friendly and professional. The room was very spacious and well equipped. We found the TV was very small and the water pressure in the shower could be a bit better.
It was convenient to have a restaurant within the hotel. However, based on the rest of the hotel, we had higher expectations. The quality of the food could be improved.

Leisure Family

6/10

Pleasant

03 Jul 2024

Verified traveler

Clean and comfortable

All the staff were great, especially in the restaurant and bar - the young lady supervisor in the blue with dark hair is a huge asset to your team. The food was delicious and service timely. Room a little tired, bathroom disappointing with shower over bath and shower curtain. I'm no longer fond of trying to manoeuvre under a shower head positioned close to the wall, with the curtain clinging to my legs!

Partner

8/10

Excellent

15 Jun 2024

Ruth

Not bad at all

Enjoyed our stay. Only few issues were the dirty carpet in the room, the shower which was awkward to get under, and no sockets beside the bed. Otherwise it was grand.

10/10

Exceptional

18 May 2024

Sharon

Music good. Staff nice. Hotel pretty.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

09 May 2024

Aaren

We enjoyed a nice quiet weekday stay and received a room upgrade which was very nice. Restaurant was okay with a menu dinner and breakfast buffet.

Leisure

8/10

Excellent

06 May 2024

Peter

Impressive looking hotel. My room was well furnished and comfortable. The hotel was equipped with a gym ( which I don't use) and a swimming pool, sauna and steam room which I did use. There was plenty of choice at breakfast as both cooked breakfast and continental style breakfast were available. Fresh fruit was also available for breakfast. In general the staff were friendly and helpful.
What I found difficult, as someone arriving on public transport was the distance from the bus station and the absence of taxis at the station and no local bus either. It took me almost an hour to arrive at the hotel on foot..It was also very poorly signposted coming from the direction of Ballina town centre.
Although I found the majority of staff friendly and helpful there were a couple in reception I found rather offhand and officious.
I dined in the restaurant only once (I was there for just two days) and found the food acceptable but not four star.

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

28 Apr 2024

Andrew

Fantastic stay

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

21 Mar 2024

Stephan

Brilliant place

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

28 Feb 2024

Verified traveler

Heating timings need review by management

Heating timings are limited so if you arrive at 3:00pm check-in, room will be cold until around 6:00pm. Goes off around 9:30 so if cold night……

Business

10/10

Exceptional

18 Feb 2024

David

It was exactly as you'd expect from a hotel with this star rating.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

18 Feb 2024

Philip

.

10/10

Exceptional

10 Feb 2024

Paul

Brilliant staff. Lovely comfortable room. Pints of Guinness in bar were out of this world.

4/10

Poor

01 Feb 2024

James

Bad experience

Rude staff , uncomfortable beds , small tv (only 3 channels to choose from! ),miserable swimming pool which was ice ,steam room out of order , tiny sauna packed with locals !. All in all a pretty lousy experience for my family and I .

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

14 Jan 2024

David

Very happy 😊 enjoyed my stay

Business

4/10

Poor

15 Jul 2023

David

Very tired!

The hotel is very tired and although the staff mean well, they are poorly trained. It's also a five-minute drive outside Ballina, ie not walking distance. Poor value in my opinion.

Friends_and_family Friends

4/10

Poor

03 May 2023

Verified traveler

Disappointed

Overall condition of the hotel was very poor. The quality of the service was excellent. Shower was very poor with little to no pressure.

Partner

4/10

Poor

19 Feb 2023

Verified traveler

Works for quick trip, nothing special about it

If you're interested in a very local place where you can get a psychic reading on the way down the hall to your room or meet some locals while they are taking swimming lessons at the pool, this is your place. Seems more like a community center which must be great for folks who live in the town. Seemed a little odd to us. Also, rooms are very worn and carpets were stained... needs a huge interior update.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

16 Oct 2022

Peter

For a small town, this hotel has a big-time feel. Clearly it's an event venue although that's not why we were there. Food was above average, and staff's attitude was extremely helpful, right up there with five-star locations as far as service and consideration.

Leisure Family

8/10

Excellent

23 Sep 2022

Michelle

Will definately stay again

Very clean rooms, pool is very good & child friendly. & Staff very friendly & food is good. Only observation some furniture in our room and in lobby is damaged & shabby & doesnt reflect the rest of the stay & service

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

19 Aug 2022

Cheryl

Nice hotel but needs some updating. Carpets in room were stained and toilet kept running making it difficult to flush properly. Pillows were flimsy but bed was comfy and room was over all clean.

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

10 Aug 2022

Michelle

Excellent

Hotel is lovely and staff are excellent very friendly

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

10 Aug 2022

Melissa

Could do with a facelift I think, shower was inadequate water was trickling put as so limescaled up. Coffee are breakfast was lukewarm the sugar never even melted.

Business Self

10/10

Exceptional

05 Aug 2022

Dominic

An excellent stay great location 5 minutes form town great for kids very friendly staff and notting is a bother to them very enjoyable and will definitely be back ...

4/10

Poor

04 Aug 2022

Verified traveler

Disappointing Place To Stay.

On arrival it was quick at the reception. Unfortunately, we had booked a queen & two singles. One of them was a folding bed which is very small. There was alot of hairs in the bathtub & around the taps. The ironing board was broke & the hair dryer was broke as well. The queen bed was ok but the pillows where hard. The window opened about an inch it was very stuffy. The tiles in the pool where green slime. However i did report the faults in the room to the reception & she didnt seem that shocked with the uncleanness of the bath. There was replacement hairdryer & a rubbermat for the bath left to the room. The restaurant in the hotel was excellent the service & food was exactly what is expected from a 4star hotel. However breakfast was a let down. It was a buffet, we ate at 8.30. There was no bacon or sausages left & needed to wait on them. Also needed to request tea,coffee & toast as no one came to our table. We as a paying family where so disappointed. The hotel was more geared around the refugees staying in it & as a guest we where second best. All should have been receiving the same treatment. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

22 Jul 2022

karen

Restaurant food was terrible. Carpet in room was soiled. The leather chair in the room was torn and had a bad idour. The music from the fitness center was very loud …. Started early in morning and continued until late at night

Leisure

4/10

Poor

16 Jul 2022

Pauline

Not recommended by me.

The hotel may have been a four star at one point but definitely not now. Most of the staff were very friendly and eager to please, some staff clearly had no idea about customer relations. Kitchen flooded on the day of our arrival so we were served soup and a sandwich for evening meal which was charged to us at full price, no compensation or good will gesture. Breakfast very sparse, the continental breakfast consisted of cereal, a communal bowl of yogurt and a few strawberries, no other fruit available. Bedrooms and furniture, very very dated and in need of a complete overhaul I would say for some time.

Friends_and_family Friends

8/10

Excellent

27 Jun 2022

kevin

Nice hotel, good value. Must drive into town centre, not walkable

Friends_and_family Friends

10/10

Exceptional

13 May 2022

James

Excellent people going out of their way to be helpful from the front dest to the bar to the gym

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

23 Apr 2022

Shibin

Very good

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

21 Apr 2022

Desmond

Good hotel, good size room, friendly staff, good leisure facilities.

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

05 Apr 2022

Allan

We totally enjoyed our stay. All the staff from initial reception, to bar staff to spa to waiting were most helpful and pleasant. All facilities were top class, although the pool changing room could do with a touch of tlc.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

17 Sep 2021

Verified traveler

Good but getting a little tired

Handy hotel for business in the area. Getting a little tired and in need of tlc.

Business

6/10

Pleasant

30 Aug 2021

Andrew

Still ok

The hotel is somewhere I stay at often , however it’s condition and it’s cleanliness is on a downward spiral. It needs some maintenance

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

27 Aug 2021

Cormac

Great

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

29 Jul 2021

Martina Breda

Hotel was spotless from the moment we arrived the welcome the friendliness wax fantastic

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

28 Jul 2021

Verified traveler

Quiet location close to town. Great food and service in the restaurant. Rooms were great though bed was very soft but that's just personal preference. Nice pool and sauna. Enjoyed stay very much.

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

15 Jul 2021

Joe

This is 4th time staying here staff can not do enough

Friends_and_family Friends

6/10

Pleasant

12 Jun 2021

Kevin

Staff good. Room good
Food not so good
Pool not good

10/10

Exceptional

10 Jun 2021

frank

All went very well, room , checking was perfect. Very slow service foe dinner and breakfast, otherwise no problems

Business

10/10

Exceptional

12 Oct 2020

ellen

It was nice and quiet staff were lovely and helpful

Friends_and_family Family

2/10

Poor

28 Aug 2020

Eamonn

Stayed in family room for one night with 2 x children. Only one single bed instead of two as agreed. Carpets badly stained. No safety lock on 1st floor window. 20 foot drop to car park. Poor service at breakfast. Senior waiting staff at lunch and dinner were high point.

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

25 Aug 2020

Michael

Lovely Staff, nice place. Breakfast disappointing

I had a pleasant stay at The Great National Hotel, and it was easy to find, coming up from the Galway Direction. The Hotel itself is very close to the town of Ballina. The staff at Reception were very friendly and helpful. They even gave me a lend of a charger as I had forgotten mine in the previous Hotel. They were also very accomodating when I asked for a late check out. I chose not to dine with them, as I had to decide right away, due to.Covid everything needs booked in advance. I Just thought the Menu was a little overpriced.
I was just unhappy with the Breakfast set up. In these times of.trying to adapt to a Corona virus world, it is so.hard to maintain social distancing. Thats why I think it would make much more sense if the Breakfast was brought to the customer instead of having to queue up and wait. In fact I had been given my seat and had cereal and tea, and queued up so long for my cooked Breakfast, that when I got back to mg seat it had been given to someone else. It was embarrassing for both of us. ALthough the girl working there did apologise, she and other staff were visibly stressed out and were back and forward like mad. THere were people constantly walking back and forward past my table, which meant it was anything but relaxed. I went to the Pool, the water was lovely and warm, but just a bit crowded and no room to swim. ALso annoying not being able to use the Changing rooms but I understand why. I availed of the Spa and the Massage I got was so beautiful

Self

6/10

Pleasant

22 Aug 2020

Kevin

Lacks character

A bit outside the town - not within walking distance. Rooms were nice but plain . Hotel is more like a motel than a hotel - lacks character. A little overpriced but ok for one or two nights.

Business

8/10

Excellent

18 Aug 2020

Ursula

We had a lovely family night away & enjoyed good food in the restaurant etc. The pool was too warm and uncomfortable so my 8 year old gave it a miss the next morning (which NEVER happens ). Would stay again 😀

Friends_and_family Family

6/10

Pleasant

11 Aug 2020

Catherine

Disappointing stay

Had to ask for a different room as the first room had a smell. The bed in the second room was very uncomfortable. Disappointing really because we have stayed in this hotel previously and had a much more pleasant experience. We ate in the bar restaurant and had a very nice meal. Staff in the restaurant were friendly and very efficient.

Partner

4/10

Poor

10 Aug 2020

Declan

Disappointing stay

When I rang to Book dinner time was told the restaurant was open for reservations.so I booked it. It was not open. Same 1 menu as lunch.

Floor was rotten. Sticky floor. Food on floor, tables stayed for ages not being cleaned.

I did comment to waitress About this.

When checking out was never asked how my stay was. Very cold checkout.

Def would not be going back.

Not worth the money.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

03 Aug 2020

Roisin

Our recent trip was absolutely fabulous. A special mention about the accomodating staff, many thanks to grainne our server who was absolutely excellent and lovely to deal with. We will definitely be back.

Leisure Family

8/10

Excellent

28 Jul 2020

Rita

Trip around ireland

Felt very safe here. Didnt go to leisure centre so can not rate it. Spacious foyer and dining area which was managed very well. Had an evening meal and it was very good. Staff lovely and all wearing face masks/shields. Little bit out of ballina but short drive to enniscrone. Overall very happy with this hotel.

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

26 Jul 2020

grace

Room for improvement

Staff was lovely but room needed hoovering and particularly the bathroom floor there was hairs on the floor. Very old tvs in the rooms.

Friends_and_family Friends

8/10

Excellent

18 Jul 2020

CHARLOTTE

Pleasant stay

Lovely hotel, we enjoyed our one night stay with good breakfast. The pool is very pleasant.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

16 Jul 2020

Anne

Lovely hotel if slightly out of town.

Partner

4/10

Poor

13 Jul 2020

Nessy

Having to book breakfast the night before and than queue for food another 45mins are just ridiculous, very poor breakfast and dinner options. Room wasn't prepared when we have arrived and after complaining that pillows have no pillow cases we found them on the floor outside the room (?!). We won't go back or recommend it....

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

25 Feb 2020

Mary

Comfortable

Very friendly staff. Relaxing and lovely surroundings and so spacious to sit and read

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

14 Jan 2020

John