Ok, ordinarily I am not fussy when it comes to hotels, as I usually stay at the more budget end of the scale, and don't expect the frills and thrills. This hotel however does not come cheap. They say you get what you pay for, but personally I don't think that is the case with this hotel. Basically they charge the rates of a luxury hotel, but don't deliver the luxury.

The rooms are small even by MY standards (and I'm only a small person!). The twin rooms came with single beds (which seems to be the norm in this country - which I don't understand, as anytime I go abroad the twin rooms have two double beds)...anyway, that doesn't really bother me, but it would bother some people. Another thing that I noticed, which again, if I was paying budget rates, I wouldn't complain about, but in this case it's a bit shoddy. The black-out curtain was about a foot away from the edge of the window, so it was like having a light shining in the corner of the room (and when you're having a power nap in the middle of the afternoon to recover from a hangover this is a problem!) I obviously didn't complain, as you don’t want to come across as a pernickety old so and so but it did bother me a little bit.

I was there with a group of girls, and as there was an uneven number, three of them were in one room. They were paying normal rates, but the third 'bed' was actually a rickety old sofa bed!! (Although they were not informed this when they were booking) and also, the way the room was laid out, you could only watch the TV from the sofa, and not from the two beds! I think it was supposed to be a 'suite', but I'm sorry, putting a sofa in a room does not make it a suite. I have stayed in suites and they have been bigger than my apartment....this was a just a room with a rather uncomfortable sofa in it!

On the first night, we ate in the restaurant in the hotel, which to be fair, was a very nice meal, and we were looked after very well by the waiting staff. The next day, however, 3 of us had lunch in the bar and it was nowhere NEAR the same standard. Firstly when the waiter was taking our order, he got so excited by the fact that there was a 'famous actor' sitting at the table next to us that he didn't exactly concentrate on our order. We were supposed to get some soup and a couple of toasted sandwiches (one would think that would be straight forward enough). The sandwiches came out after about a half hour wait, but they weren't toasted. I'm not a fussy person and I'm always very embarrassed about sending things back, but in fairness, it wasn't what I ordered. I asked very nicely if they could toast it for me, and away they went. It came back about ten minutes later with the bread toasted a little bit, but the sandwich was still cold and the cheese (which, by the way, was horrible rubbery processed cheese) wasn't even melted. They took it away (again I was very embarrassed to ask - but it was not edible – if it had been nice cheese, I would have just eaten it, but when cheese is a bit yuck and rubbery, melting it is they only way to make it palatable) and eventually it came back melted. Although I FINALLY got the sandwich I ordered, it really wasn't very nice at all. I did also have a bowl of potato wedges though and they were quite nice!

The next day we had coffees in the bar before checking out, and also had to wait an age for them. Also, the breakfast we ordered from room service never arrived that morning. These are all little things, but they do add up, and in a 'luxury hotel' are simply not acceptable. Basically overall their service was really sub-par.

On the plus side it is a nice comfortable hotel, and in a good central location. The bar is nice, even if the service is questionable. The Gym is lovely and has a lovely pool and hot tub, and the staff in there were all very nice and accommodating. I didn't go into the spa so I can't tell you what that's like. Basically if they were charging 120 euro per night for the rooms, I would be telling you it's a great hotel, but they charge nearly twice that (and upwards from there!), and I really don't see what you get for the extra money. I have paid a fraction of that in other countries and received the same standard.

We arrived in Galway on June 9th to find the Fairgreen Hotel on longer in operation. Strange that we were able to book it online though in early May. There were posters on the doors/windows stating that the Radisson was honoring all reservations (thank god!). The Radisson must have bought the hotel, connected both of them, renovated all the rooms, etc. We still stayed in the "Fairgreen" section of the hotel which did not have air-conditioning. The rooms were nicely updated, with nice bathrooms, shower stall, large towels, good soaps, hair-dryer, desk in room, tv that had 14 channels (more than our last hotel) and alot of American-like amenities. Our friends who stayed in another room did not have a good experience with the air in their room and not having the ability to open the balcony doors for more air but we had a nice stay. The breakfast the next day was held in the lobby of the Radisson (this was included in our reservation). It was the largest, best breakfast I've probably ever had...they had everything from smoked salmon, to yogurt, eggs, bacon, white/black pudding, all kinds of cereal juices, danishes, etc. And the breakfast area was beautiful overlooking the bay. The bars in the hotel were also nice. Our experience was great overall since we were technically staying at the Radisson, not the Fairgreen. I'm not sure it would have been as nice if we were solely under the Fairgreen as we paid 156 US dollars for each room which would probably have been more had we reserved the rooms under Radisson. The parking garage was free with a validation from the hotel. Pluses - Fairgreen was taken over by the Radisson, the breakfast, parking garage and room amenities (aside from the lack of air-conditioning).

Lovely hotel, right by train station, incredible views of bay.

Very clean, comfortable bed, helpful staff.

My only possible complaint is that breakfast buffet plates were so hot (in plate warmer) that they could burn one's hand.

They did turn the heater down when I called the dining manager's attention to the problem.

Otherwise, wonderful experience.

I stayed at the Radisson on business for one night. The check in was quick and flawless. I had requested a smoking room and was allocated room 111. Now some of my colleagues swear by the Radisson and certainly the common areas are light and airy. My room however was less so. The furniture showed definite signs of aging (scrapped and chipped word work), the ceiling above the window was covered in cobwebs and the door of the mini-bar was broken). Overall the décor of the room was definitely lacking the Scandinavian cool design many other Radisson hotels seem to have adopted.

Unfortunately the problems with the water supply in Galway were still
persisting but the hotel provided a free 2 litre bottle of water for bathroom use. Many Irish hotels suffer from flimsy building quality and the Radisson is no exception. You can hear your neighbour’s conversations and room doors have a habit of banging to such a degree
that you wake up regularly.

The breakfast (included in a rate of €130/night) was rather mediocre.
The cooked Irish breakfast items had been heated for such a long time that many items were completely dried out. The waiting staff had to be asked repeatedly to refill my coffee. Not the service I would expect from a Radisson. On contrast the business lunch they offer in the Atrium bar was good quality and very good value.

Overall the Radisson SAS Galway is a pleasant centrally located hotel though with some problems. More attention to detail in terms of maintenance and service (especially the breakfast) and it could stand proudly among the plethora of old and new Galway hotels. At the
moment it is just middle of the road.