Advertised as a 4* Hotel, but turned out to be Butlins with golf (although even that was out because of the weather). Sophisticated and up-market the patrons were not, while many of the staff struggled to communicate in anything intelligible as a language and service at a lightly used Brasserie would have made even a snail impatient (1 hr for a burger - please!). Room and bathroom decent, but finding it was like Theseus following Ariadne's thread - seriously what architect came up with that Labyrinth, only for it then to be made worse by poor and misleading signage. Gym was good, but the swimming pool was packed and I fear contaminated with numerous yellow clouds emanating from its pre-teen users. And the piece de la resistance, the breakfast - only the baked beans passed muster - the scrambled eggs were powdered and the pain chocolate so old it crumbled in your hand. Dalmahoy used to be a good hotel; the Estate and golf courses are superb, but it has decided to abandon its original 5* metier to cash in on the 2-3* mass market "On the Beach" crowd when it is not designed or resourced to cater for them. The basic infrastructure still has potential, but it needs a lot of investment and a reset to 5* luxury aspiration to bring back to its former reputation