I had heard The Brandon had been renovated over the past few years and I know it to be a very good central location for staying in Tralee Town. Booked in there for 1 night last week - I was offered a standard room for €50 @ head including breakfast, or €75 @ head includ breakfast for a superior room, I chose the superior room. Upon arrival at the reception desk, I said oh boy this doesn't bode well,,,,,,,,; The 2 receptionists gave me a glance and continued what they were doing - No Hello Welcome to our Hotel or anything along those lines. Then they checked us in, you can see they were more interested in prioritising whatever work they were doing behind the counter instead of welcoming 2 guests to the hotel - one was on her computer, one was filing around - We were the only guests at check in at the time. Actually a delivery man came in and was greeted with pleasantries & more attention than we were. So off we went to our superior room - It was on the new side of the hotel - the receptionists let us go off to the lift which wasn't even the correct lift for our side of the building - we found this out up at the final floor option - 4. Our Room was on floor 5, so off we went down again and found the other lift. With our cases, no offer of a porter along the way.
Our room - it was fine - it certainly wasn't a superior room. Both lampshades on the bedside lockers was hanging sideways broken. the towels were sufficient - i.e. 1 bath towel each, 2 hand towels, obviously very old towels. There was a dirty sock from possibly the previous occupants of the room, under the dresser. Nothing 'superior' in the room as would be standard for a superior room; i.e. robes/ slippers/ not a bottle of water. The bed was comfortable, the main bed linen was clean, the covers are obviously re-used in my opinion, so I didn't dwell on that, being there for only one night.... the sock was enough for me to get over.
The Bar; staff were very friendly, service was excellent. Food was very good casual bar food.
The Spa; very very good, treatments quality, staffs attention to detail excellent & lovely surrounds.
Breakfast - oh lord - last call as such is 10:30 - we arrived at 10:32 being honest - they were wrapping up shop like there was a function due in on top of them - when all they were doing was prepping it up again for the next morning. no need for all the clattering, rushing about, making everyone feel like we better get a spoon to mouth fast before its taken away from us. The room breakfast is served in, is quite simply old, fading shabby decor.

I deal with hotels around ireland regularly on a corporate level - I certainly wont be paying the brandon hotel another visit. There is no need to stay at a hotel of this caliber in this day and age when there are so many better options, I would say even guest houses would top the brandon. I was disappointed to say the least.

I just came home from Tralee and l must say the Brandon Hotel has the fastest service l have ever seen in any hotel. The staff were a plus for making our first time to Ireland a real treat. We only planned a night and stayed 4. We found it convienent to all areas. We were treated with a real relaxed enviroment. The room had a beautiful washroom, view of the countryside. we ordred our free breakfast to our room in the mornings and it arrived prompt and piping hot. We didnt use facilities as our stay was for sightseeing but l think the property has no problems.
I could see a few areas that we walked by and they all looked suffiicient. Free Parking included is unusual. The town is fun to drive around in our car and we never had to worry about not finding our hotel. Right in the perfect Area. Our reception was great and we felt very welcomed in Ireland by the staff. I would say Not a problem was had and is great value. Thanks Brandon Hotel for the hospitality The breakawayonline.ca girls

The Brandon could do with a huge input of money to update it. It is quite dilapidated.
The parking at the rear is free for guests. The reception is fair with good local tourist information.
The room was very old with a key, and an even bigger keyring, to access it (quite unusual these days!). The room was dark - even though our room was to the front of the building. The duvet (over bed cover) looked like it could do with a wash. The carpet was shabby. The general appearance of the room was outdated. The bathroom was no better and the bath could have done with being replaced. The shower curtain was in need of replacement. No tea/coffee making facilities provided.
We arrived at approximately 4pm and I thought the windows must have been open due to the noise levels - but the windows were shut! This was only the afternoon! At 3am - it felt like we were sleeping on the street due to the noise level! The noise at 3am was unbelievable. There seems to be a nightclub across the street further up and the noise was unbearable.

We left the following morning feeling as if we:
(a) needed sleep
(b) needed a proper wash
(c) needed a break
NOT what you expect from a weekend break.
I would advice people to avoid this hotel. There are 10 times nicer B and B's in Tralee and also other hotels to choose from.

Excellent gym, bar, car-parking. The room we stayed in was dated and smelled it, the mattress was clearly older than the tv and the bed had some serious roll-together issues which resulted in a ropey first night's sleep. They swapped the mattress for one which sagged across-ways instead of longways which was marginally better.

The 3DBB mid-week deal for 179 euro is good value, though I don't think i'd pay 35 euro for the dinner if it wasn't included.