βοΈβοΈβοΈ

Located right on the beachfront of this small coastal town in Ireland, is the stunning Palm Hotel and Restaurant. It’s a beautiful hotel and, if you’re anything like us, the pictures will definitely make you want to visit. So we did.
Let’s rate it!

We arrived at the hotel, just in time for our check-in at 4 pm on a Tuesday. We had booked our room a mere 2 nights before that (on Booking.com) and worked out afterwards that if we’d booked at least a week in advance, we would have saved a whopping β¬100 over the two nights. (Lesson learnt, plan ahead).
Value for Money
Our stay cost us β¬396 for two nights. Which is quite expensive, even as hotels in Ireland go.
Okay so it’s expensive but “is it worth it?”
While it was an absolutely fabulous room – and I’m sure I racked up a small bill with my two deep baths – I just don’t feel that the price is justified without including breakfast.
There is nothing better than waking up to a big, cooked breakfast. And usually, we wouldn’t book a hotel that didn’t include one, but the look of the room and the location of the hotel had us sold. We had to try it for ourselves.
For a hotel to be considered good value for money, it has to include more than just a place to sleep. You want to go somewhere and be offered an experience. Especially, if the price is high.
Checklist:
- Included breakfast ππΌ
- Free Activities (pool, hikes, games etc) ππΌ
- Discounts Available β
- In-room snacks (this star is for hotels that go beyond leaving tea and coffee) ππΌ
- Met expectations β
βοΈ Value for Money Rating: 2/5 βοΈ

Aesthetic



The main room (our room π) at The Palm is absolutely stunning and will have you wanting to restyle your own room to match its aesthetic.
The main feature of the room is the giant steel bathtub. This massive bin is big enough for two people to lounge in – and a good bath is always a luxury. The bed was lovely – fitted with soft, white linen and 4 puffy pillows (although we both bumped our poor toes on the extruding wooden legs a good few times).
Despite the bath overlooking the boardwalk below, you cannot see into the windows from the street (we checked!). So you can enjoy your bath, stalking the poor people below, knowing that cannot spy back at you.
Second to the bath, the greatest features in this room are the windows. They are ceiling to floor and directly face the ocean. You could sit and stare out them all day and night long. But don’t worry, they are also fitted with black-out curtains for when you want to sleep in for a few more hours.
The toilet room and shower room are separate (a pleasant feature when you’re enjoying a nice long shower in their great walk-in shower).
The lighting fixtures are aesthetically chosen and can be turned on and off separately (as well as dimmed) depending on how much light you’d like.
Checklist:
- On brand β
- What we expected β
- Great view β
- Good interior and exterior design β
- Well maintained β (I nearly didn’t give this point because the poor plants had not been well looked after, but the decor is almost faultless)
βοΈ Aesthetic Rating: 5/5 βοΈ
Cleanliness
Cleanliness can ultimately determine one’s experience in any establishment. While our first impressions of our room were that it was impeccable, our room was slacking in some small ways.

I was very excited about our coffee station in the room. Usually one can expect sachets of instant coffee and a kettle. We were treated with a Nespresso pod machine and various pods (although we had no idea which one was which). As I was indulging in my first cup of coffee I noticed some old, congealed milk in the bottom of one of the mugs. Also there was a used pod and couple milk cartons in the collection.
There was also a pretty-big cobweb above one of the windows.
It’s really disappointing because this small lack of attention to detail felt like such a damper on such an immaculate room.
We were given a single set of toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and soap) to use during our stay. They were the normal size of hotel toiletries but of a pretty good standard.
Checklist:
- Cleaned well ππΌ (kind of want to call this category “great care taken in cleaning”)
- Toiletries provided β
- Housekeeping available β
- Clean sheets, towels and blankets β
- No dust or visible dirt ππΌ
βοΈ Cleanliness Rating: 3/5 βοΈ
Experience (and comfort)

Our room was fitted with a Nespresso coffee pod machine and radio. These increased our experience immensely. We spent a good amount of our time just chilling, drinking coffee and enjoying our stay. Everything about this room makes you want to stay for as long as possible.
The bed was of good quality, the shower and bath were next level and the quality of decor in this well-designed room was faultless. (And while we weren’t the biggest fans of the weird hand doorknobs, we can appreciate the aesthetic).
The only issue we had with our experience of the hotel was the noise.
We were notified via email (as we arrived – with a no-refund policy) that there was construction happening at the hotel. While the construction was probably as quiet as construction can be, the 8 o’clock banging-on-the-wall alarm was not what we were hoping for on our relaxing getaway.
While we totally get that building new rooms has to happen at some point (and off-peak, during the week is the best time for that) it still took away from our peace and must be noted.
There was also a lack of apology in person, which there really should’ve been. And besides our room service asking us if we needed anything, we were not checked on when passing the manager and there was no one to take the keys from us at check-out. (we just handed them to some guy who said he’d take them so hopefully that all went well).
Checklist:
- Great service β
- Check-ins and no long waits ππΌ
- Comfortable Experience ππΌ
- Good Quality Fixtures β
- Easy access to attractions β (This will obviously depend on what you were looking for in your stay)
βοΈ Experience Rating: 3/5 βοΈ
Environment

The Palm is in an absolutely prime location.
It is right on the boardwalk of the main beach in Bray. The ocean view is breathtaking and we walked the beach several times a day. It is not even a 5-minute walk to the Aquarium and is surrounded by restaurants within walking distance. The hotel itself also has an in-house restaurant and bar [review coming soon!] that is definitely worth eating at, even if you aren’t staying in the hotel.
Checklist:
- Beautiful location β
- Parking Access β (Parking is available on the street outside the hotel, which is very common for almost everywhere in Ireland).
- Safe β
- Close to attractions β
- Involved in the protection of natural surroundings ππΌ
βοΈ Environment Rating: 4/5 βοΈ
In a couple sentences:
Everything about this room makes you want to stay in it for as long as possible. Small changes would have made our experience a whole lot better, but you’ll definitely find us back here.
Travel Aesthetic, 2023
Our final rating for the Palm Hotel is 17/25
OVERALL RATING: βοΈβοΈβοΈ

Be sure to read our list on 10 things to do in Bray for your next visit!
Love Ken & Chey.
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