Outstanding hotel in a great location in the heart of Dundalk. Not sure how our friends found it -…read moremaybe Expedia? The rooms are super clean and they did a fancy refurbishment by the looks of the lobby. The staff at the reception desk have been very accommodating. The one girl in the lobby made an excellent recommendation for a sushi place down the road. The bar attached to the restaurant is very nice looking and comfortable. Excellent food selection. I had the grilled prawns tapas which came out sizzling and was just the right amount of food. The truffle chips are also very good. My husband enjoyed his chicken curry meal. The bartenders are very engaging and friendly. The only thing I did not like about our room was the step up shower situation. I struggled to get safely into it and always afraid of falling when getting out. Never was able to get the water temperature to be right. But it was a great hotel experience and I highly recommend.

So, rather than making a snap judgement, I waited until the last night to do this review. Before…read moreyou read further, I stand by my initial impression of the Imperial versus the Crowne Plaza. The location alone makes it my preference. That being said, my further understanding of the service culture and indigenous expectations in that regard moderates some of the negatives I will raise moving forward in this review. I have been educated by an Irishman about service expectations. The Irish are very patient people, so by American standards, "slow service" is relative. What I considered slow service at the Crowne appears to be normal service after my experiences at the Imperial. Unless you are being served out of order (which is unacceptable anywhere) the time it takes for them to get to you may seem excessive at times, but may be the norm. If you make your displeasure known, the reaction will vary from indifference to insincerely apologetic. At any rate don't expect fast service, especially if busy. Also don't expect to be serviced by one person on whom you can focus your pleasure or displeasure. Whoever is available at the moment is your best bet. Hence the apparent indifference to the need or expectation of tip. Except for the more experienced service workers it is neither expected or appreciated. So that pretty much brings me to the callouts at the Imperial. The more experienced staff know how to act, but it is clear they are the exception and most of the workers are ill-trained for the service industry. While almost always courteous, they are rarely attentive or sensitive to the fact that you are a guest. (I would compare to McDonalds employees in a hotel setting.) So the local bloke who is a daily visitor will trump the hotel guest when it comes to attention. If you tip and ingratiate yourself with someone who gets it, you will always get superior service when THEY are there. Otherwise expect the norm. The hotel itself is utterly charming and well presented. Yet it is clear this is a local venture, so even with the redesign and upgrades, there are some misses. The trim in the bathrooms prevent the new toilet seats from resting properly in the upright position, so for males wishing the seat up, you will need to hold it. (Too bad for couples.) But the rooms are lovely, and the Crowne has little on them besides some amenities. (You need to request an ironing board and iron.) The food is great and well presented, despite the HUGE variety of options just steps away. I was told there were "several" pubs and restaurants in walking distance. THERE ARE DOZENS, and with my overweight self, I discovered as many or more during my jaunts. That is the true allure of the location. Shopping at all levels and types. Now, putting my business traveler hat on, there are a few more issues. The WiFi in your room is adequate but not the best. Some Marketing idiot thought it was a good idea to make their landing page to be their Facebook page, which makes connecting a challenge. Not to mention it's a bad idea unless you know most of your posts are positive. And you only find out there is "good" WiFi in the lobby, restaurant and pub if you followed the advice above and get the tip from the seasoned guy or gal you made friends with earlier. All in all I have enjoyed my stay and plan to book this location for my January return, but cannot recommend it to my colleagues unless they are willing to accept these caveats. If only here for a day or two, stay at the Crowne. If here with any down time, the Imperial is where it's at.

Location is a bit remote, but GPS got me there w/o a problem…read more Newly renovated hotel and a steal for thw price! Very comfortable bed, soft & firm pillows, excellent shower and perfect water pressure. Nice complimentary toiletries and even had a nice hairdryer. Room was spacious & well-appointed with just a little noise from shared wall room next door, but nothing disruptive. Staff was also very gracious and accommodating.

Four star hotel. WiFi is bad at the bar but good in our room. Smaller menu at the bar than…read moreadvertised on the website but the food was very tasty. Staff were all friendly. TV in the room is dated. You can't cast from your phone but they do have a movie channel. Film. Overall not a bad hotel

We were invited here 15 January 26 and as we chatted away we all instantly realised the food was…read moreawful so our host became repeatedly apologetic for it and the grim coffee. It wasn't his fault his only mistake was choosing here. There is absolutely no satisfaction in writing a review like this. None. Moreover and regardless I think it will not change what desperately needs change but at least readers are informed. The staff are delightful. The place is real cosy. Parking is free WiFi is reliable. The problem is that the carvery food is really awful and overpriced. Our memories of the food here is just this. I took the meat to give to the dogs. I ate the potato mash and cabbage; the portion of each was mean. It's old folks home standard on an alright day that we queued for. I got some Cajun pepper sauce from another Bain Marie container (the gravy looked unappealing) and it's obviously not made from fresh in house - factory made maybe even a packet mix requiring no skill or food knowledge only water. The English mustard too is poor quality it's oil based, cheap and in a tube where it stayed. Just nasty rubbish served intentionally. The cappuccino is grim and for this there's no excuse either. Management may rebut my opinion and the opinion of my wife and our host but this has been our experience time and again over many years. It's been a long time since we last dined here. We had hoped it had improved and we said how bad can the food be as we made our way there. Sadly the answer is very very.

Absolutely amazing, will be back!! We came to the hotel for birthday and when we walked in we were…read moregreated with so much respect and the rooms were amazing!!

We literally haven't been in this place for 30 years as we had no reason to go…read more Saturday past 27 August 2022 we were very close by and as it was lunch time we thought why not. There's lots of parking around and a very pleasant Costa coffee bar sharing the same space. On hotel entry we found it bright, clean and airy with mostly young serving staff. Service is courteous but a bit haphazard; a tad of training from good management would help here. We saw outside seating contained within a walled area off the main inside dining area probably designed more for smokers and a necessity for Wu flu. We opted to sit in warm sun as we don't often get warm sun in these parts and as importantly there were no smokers (who can be selfish to smoke while others eat around them.) Four of us dined with three opting for the Fairways club poached chicken fillet, crisp streaky bacon, lettuce, tomato on toasted sourdough with fries and fixings including ketchup, factory made mayo with fresh garlic added, that improved taste, and French mustard. Imagine not having Colman's English mustard. The club & fries was €14. I opted for the seafood chowder (€11). It came with one thin piece of soda bread - the bread portion and the quality disappointed. The chowder was good but while Fitzpatricks pub chowder is an extra euro it's way way far better and shell less. I asked for white pepper to be told they didn't have any. What I found most bothersome about the chowder was that mussels within were still in shells so I had to use my hands to negotiate the meat out, leaving me with fishy fingers; pieces of salmon had skin on too. Crispy salmon skin can be tasty, but soggy limp skin is repulsive. While skin and shell help make great stock they shouldn't be in the served dish. If the chef insists on skin and shell then provide a water bowl, hand towel and suitable cutlery. All in all it's a good 3 star but could easily hit at least 4 star. I mean no white pepper, no English mustard, hard shells and soggy skin in soup, no. We went across the way to Costa for coffees.

I love the location, pricing, service, style & reward perks of this hotel. This was our second time…read morestaying and we will be back again. We had a king sea-view. Sure, you need good vision to see the sea, but it's there! We stayed 3 nights and added breakfast. Our check in was late, (thanks to a navigation re-route after a long day out), tho flawless. We were presenting a drink amenity and advised the bar was still open... nice touch. Our aromatherapy spray wasn't in the room. Not a huge deal, but I didn't bring any with me, since the room included it and we really liked the provided one on our last stay. The room was clean, well-appointed and spacious. Breakfast was plentiful. The croissants alone were worth the additional cost. I could have eaten them all day, every day. There is cereal, fruit, eggs, black & white pudding, ham (bacon), deli meats and cheeses, assorted breads & pastries, a gluten-free station and... did I mention the croissants? Check-out was painless. We owed a small additional amount for taxes. The gent working the desk called up to make sure we got breakfast pre-departure, when he found out we hadn't yet eaten and were flying out. On his insistence, we went up for breakfast before going to the airport. I owe him one. We would not have had time to eat. The lines were crazy. Those small touches make a huge difference and will keep us coming back. Another great stay.

Great staff! Stayed here on a trip back from the States with…read moremy family. The staff are very helpful and geared towards hospitality. The front desk manager went out of his way to make me a cup of coffee one morning as it was early and breakfast wasn't starting for a few hours. The restaurant on the 13th floor is a great breakfast venue and again the staff are very helpful- making a mocha or Americano or providing extra pancakes for my 8 year old. Rooms are big and clean and the showers are great. Anything I needed was attended to without delay. Well done and I will plan on staying here again on my next trip to Dundalk