* ALL THINGS DEBS / GRADS!! *

ironclaw

Can't wait for mine. However, its going to be a new thread.. "Companies to avoid". I'll say no more...

randylonghorn

djcervi wrote: »

Well I'll have to see the difference there and then. I'll keep u posted.

Era sólo un mal juego de palabras, dude!

djcervi

randylonghorn wrote: »

Era sólo un mal juego de palabras, dude!

Claro, of course randylonghorn,

tootyflutty

Darnley Lodge is a great place for debs, I live 2 minutes away from it and was at a ball there once. One of the only hotels that treat you like a real person, that your not just a little kid playing dress up in their hotel.
The Ardboyne is a lovely hotel too, heard great reports from Debs there.
Mine is in Dundalk Park Inn (again, mine was there last year, and so was my boyfriends grrr), nice hotel, good photos, food was ok and the night club was very good!

english4490

ive 2 debs this year, had one the other night in the silver springs in cork! was a bit of a trek from tipp but sure! there was another debs on at the same time but we hardly saw them at all as they were on another floor and neither school were aloud mix!

Food: was grand nothing great but much better than the food i had at my debs last year! only thing was it was really really rushed!

Drink: really annoying, we were tagged on the way in upon showing ID which is fine, im 19 anyway so no worries, but the bar would only serve one drink per person and no doubles!:eek: they even took the tags off one guy who got his gf a drink...she was also over 18!

Music/atmosphere: All pretty good, they were called Arcadia i think, good to get the crowd going! although things finished up about 1.30...

Hotel: most of us hadnt planned on staying but did after bluffing our way past security and sneaking in a back door, by the time i went to sleep there was 14 people inside in one twin room! checked out in time and got the €50 security deposit back we were well behaved really! but we even had breakfast in the hotel.. just walked into the restaurant and hoped we didn get asked for a room number! out of over 20 of us in the restaurant when i was in there id say 4 had paid for a room with breakfast!!

overall very good! ive another debs (my own) on tuesday in the woodlands adare and i aint expecting great things, the drinks situation aint lookin to good either!!!:)

Fad

<snipped quoted post>

You pay if you want to advertise on this website I'm afraid.

djcervi

This summer I went to 2 different debs locations. None of these were my own so I don't know the prices.

Dunboyne Castle Hotel, Dunboyne, Co. Meath:
It was booked through debsireland.ie and the theme was James Bond 007. However none of the guys bothered to wear dress suits and bowties and therefore I looked like a sore thumb to start of :pac:. There was a 'cocktail' drinks reception and on entry to the hotel there were security guards with plastic machine guns and in suits, etc. After IDs were checked and the certifying stamps were given to the over 18 year old we were in the bar and waiting for dinner. Official photos were availiable to be taken. It was 2 for 20€ and were sent to each of your and your date's addresses. The dinner was nice: Vegetable soup, Turkey and ham with veg and a melody dessert with a mixture of tirmasu, ice cream, etc. I wasn't mad about it but it was okay. After Dinner there was an awards ceremony for the most nicest girl, most likely girl to be a serial killer, etc..
After that we went to the nightclub where a band played for a while and then there was a dj till about 5am. The DJ played most songs about 4 times. The debs commitee were in the VIP section where they got bottles of champagne and a wii to play with. We had a breakfast fry in the dining room and then we got the bus home.
Verdict: I would definitely recommend it. The Hotel was great and it was very well organised.

Red Cow Hotel, Dublin: The reception was in the school so when we arrived at the red cow ID was checked and a bracelet was given to those who had ID. Under 18s AFAIK had to produce a letter that they had a guardian on call who knew where they were. After ID check we went to the dining room and dancefloor where we would be for most of the night. This time I had a choice as to what I could eat: Starters: Caesars Salad, Veg soup; Main: Lasagne and chips, Turkey and ham; Dessert: cheesecake or Chocolate cake. In comparison to the other debs the food was way better and the choice was appreciated. After dinner there was a bit of dancing and karaoke, which definitely created a good atmosphere. Before leaving we spent a while in the nightclub (about an hour and a bit, which imo was stupid) and then we went to a dining room for breakfast at about 5am as well. Imo the breakfast was horrible. It was a fry but that was all you could have- there was no toast and the scrambled egg didn't taste right. After the breakfast we left for our buses.
Verdict: It was a good night. It could have been organised a bit better with regard to spending more time in the nightclub than the function room.

Feel free to pm me whenever if you have any other queries about the venues. I'll post again soon about my own debs.

snazzy

The James Bond themed Debs sounds amazing craic!
And I'm rather hungry right now after reading that! :P

p1akuw47h5r3it

Jesus this thread is goin 6 yrs!

cazzzzz

Hey we went to the Clarion hotel in Cork city,it's really nice.Food was lovely,music and band were very good,the bar was strict at first but later on in the night they didn't really mind so it was fine.If you're booking hotel rooms get them in jury's inn it's right beside the clarion and half the price.

djcervi

snazzy wrote: »

The James Bond themed Debs sounds amazing craic!
And I'm rather hungry right now after reading that! :P

yeah it was amazing craic. It would have been better if any of the guy dates bothered to 'dress for the occasion'. lol.

english4490

Had my 2nd debs this summer a few weeks agon in The Woodlands Adare!

It was a much less classier affair than the previous debs i was at in the silver springs in cork!

Hotel: The hotel is grand, your average 3*... but it took about 35min for them to let us into the ballroom as they had to check id's, take our ticket and put those wristbands on.. staff were not very organised and were pretty rude.
when we got into the ballroom we were surprised, we knew the room was not going to be huge but jesus! the room was not big enough for us by any means. There were only 4 0r 5 round tables and the rest were long tables which were really annoying for taking to people at your table! the other 2 debs i've been too had round tables and they are great for talking to people etc! the tables were so close together we spent the whole night moving about on our chairs to let people pass and if you wanted to get up from your seat then the other people at your side of the table had to get up too as the table had more table settings at it than it could fit!

Food: it was ok, main course was grand, turkey and ham again...! dessert was a selection of those mini things that seemed like they were only half drfrosted! no one ate them!

Bar/Drink: so we are sitting down waiting for dinner when one of the hotel staff starts talking on the stage, we assume the bar will open any minute now... we were wrong. we are told that the bar will not open till after dessert.. most of us were seated by 7.45, and the bar opened at 10.10! just before they opened it, staff come on again and tell us if there is a rush to the bar it will be shut for the night and wont open again! terrible planning here, obviously a room of 250 teenagers at their debs who have not had access to a bar in hours are going to rush to it at first chance!
staff were very strict at the bar, checked tags over and over again, and even broke some peoples jewelry as they pulled their wrists over the bar and checked to see if anyone was wearing a "tampered" wristband!! no doubles, one drink per person policy which was very annoying! i know its to help stop the underage drinking, and i don't mind, i'm 19 anyway, but the underagers were the worst by this stage, they all had their bottles of vodka from their handbags drank by this stage!

Music: A local band called Bleska did the band and the DJ and they saved the night! played a lot of music from the charts and from times gone by! they were brilliant!

Then about 2.15 the night came to a sudden halt, music was stopped and we were told return to our seats and stay seated! then we were kept in the ballroom by security as there were 2 massive fights going on, one in the reception area and one in the smoking area... lovely!
Eventually we are all herded onto the buses and 95% were going back on the buses as the hotel didn't allow anyone to reserve a room! next thing we are looking forward to going to our house parties, when staff block the exit and don't allow the buses to leave until the guards arrive to sort out the problems with the fighting!!

All in all it was grand, not that it was a terrible night, it was just the least good of the 3 debs i've been too! the hotel was grand but i would say it would be better suited to a smaller debs, there were 3 schools at ours! also have the details and hotel policy sorted out beforehand! even our debs committee were shocked by the way the staff ran things!

Rant over!!

ironclaw

english4490 wrote: »

Had my 2nd debs this summer a few weeks agon in The Woodlands Adare!

It was a much less classier affair than the previous debs i was at in the silver springs in cork!

Hotel: The hotel is grand, your average 3*... but it took about 35min for them to let us into the ballroom as they had to check id's, take our ticket and put those wristbands on.. staff were not very organised and were pretty rude.
when we got into the ballroom we were surprised, we knew the room was not going to be huge but jesus! the room was not big enough for us by any means. There were only 4 0r 5 round tables and the rest were long tables which were really annoying for taking to people at your table! the other 2 debs i've been too had round tables and they are great for talking to people etc! the tables were so close together we spent the whole night moving about on our chairs to let people pass and if you wanted to get up from your seat then the other people at your side of the table had to get up too as the table had more table settings at it than it could fit!

Food: it was ok, main course was grand, turkey and ham again...! dessert was a selection of those mini things that seemed like they were only half drfrosted! no one ate them!

Bar/Drink: so we are sitting down waiting for dinner when one of the hotel staff starts talking on the stage, we assume the bar will open any minute now... we were wrong. we are told that the bar will not open till after dessert.. most of us were seated by 7.45, and the bar opened at 10.10! just before they opened it, staff come on again and tell us if there is a rush to the bar it will be shut for the night and wont open again! terrible planning here, obviously a room of 250 teenagers at their debs who have not had access to a bar in hours are going to rush to it at first chance!
staff were very strict at the bar, checked tags over and over again, and even broke some peoples jewelry as they pulled their wrists over the bar and checked to see if anyone was wearing a "tampered" wristband!! no doubles, one drink per person policy which was very annoying! i know its to help stop the underage drinking, and i don't mind, i'm 19 anyway, but the underagers were the worst by this stage, they all had their bottles of vodka from their handbags drank by this stage!

Music: A local band called Bleska did the band and the DJ and they saved the night! played a lot of music from the charts and from times gone by! they were brilliant!

Then about 2.15 the night came to a sudden halt, music was stopped and we were told return to our seats and stay seated! then we were kept in the ballroom by security as there were 2 massive fights going on, one in the reception area and one in the smoking area... lovely!
Eventually we are all herded onto the buses and 95% were going back on the buses as the hotel didn't allow anyone to reserve a room! next thing we are looking forward to going to our house parties, when staff block the exit and don't allow the buses to leave until the guards arrive to sort out the problems with the fighting!!

All in all it was grand, not that it was a terrible night, it was just the least good of the 3 debs i've been too! the hotel was grand but i would say it would be better suited to a smaller debs, there were 3 schools at ours! also have the details and hotel policy sorted out beforehand! even our debs committee were shocked by the way the staff ran things!

Rant over!!

Watch this space because there is going to be a serious thread (like the above) in late September of a certain company to avoid. If anyone wants details, PM me. I won't name them but by god avoid them.

irish-anabel

Cheapest place to go???
All we want is the very cheapest place!

randylonghorn

citizenerased1, this thread isn't for advertising bands ...

citizenerased1

randylonghorn wrote: »

citizenerased1, this thread isn't for advertising bands ...

Ahh but entertainment is a vital part of the grad experience and many schools have to organise there own bands :D

I'm in LC meself sooo yeah

ron_darrell

In reply to this posting, just a few quick points.

My own experience with the Woodlands has been that the staff are in general, polite, courteous and efficient. I was a guest in house on this particular night and have to say considering the trouble caused by some of those attending the Debs & the number of guests attending the function that the staff had to deal with, I feel they handled the entire situation in a professional and effective manner.

You neglected to mention that a member of staff was assaulted on this particular night by one of those attending the function, though you did mention the fracas that happened.

Underage drinking is a very serious problem and poses particular problems for hotels where it can endanger their liqour license which can result in loss of jobs for those employed there. For this reason, I applaud the policies you mentioned put in place by the hotel to protect all involved, both staff and guests alike.

Having stayed at the hotel on many occasions I have always had a very positive experience and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to host a function, wedding or just to have a nice relaxing weekend break.

I must hasten to add that I am in no way affiliated with the hotel. This is just my own experience and opinion. You, of course, are entitled to your own but I feel it important to give both sides of the argument to allow a balanced discourse.

Regards,
-RD

3_BOoYA_X

Has anyone been to the Nuremore, in Monaghan? Debs is there in August, can't find many reviews on it

qwertplaywert

3_BOoYA_X wrote: »

Has anyone been to the Nuremore, in Monaghan? Debs is there in August, can't find many reviews on it

We were there for ours last year. Nice enough place,great craic until the breakfast, where we were kicked out about an hour or two early due to a few bad eggs causing trouble. So they very much air on the side of caution, no bull**** etc, which is what you want.

On a different note, can't wait for this years debs!

freeze4real

i wish i cud go to one but i didnt pay and deadline is way ova.:(

callaway92

ours is on in Springhill Court in Kilkenny

Never been to the place myself but last years debs people went there and said it was decent..and in a strange turn of events, they invited our school back there!! Madness

muffinz

The Newgrange Hotel this year... anyone been there before?

muffinz

Ballerina wrote: »

WHATEVER YOU DO DONT GO TO NEWGRANGE OR NEWBRIDGE OR WHATEVER THE HELL ITS CALLED

(for those of you for whom this advice is too late...i feel your pain...)



(oh and DONT eat the breakfast "rolls")

Im from Newbridge, going to Newgrange.... Im scared now :P Im only 17, and my dates not 18 either, I hope they arent strict, or its a bottle of vodka slipped in my bag!

Do they search bags does anyone know, just at Debs in general?

3_BOoYA_X

qwertplaywert wrote: »

We were there for ours last year. Nice enough place,great craic until the breakfast, where we were kicked out about an hour or two early due to a few bad eggs causing trouble. So they very much air on the side of caution, no bull**** etc, which is what you want.

On a different note, can't wait for this years debs!

That sounds really good, i think once its not a kip and the staff don't treat us like animals it'll be a god night. Just hope so....:p

muffinz wrote: »

Im from Newbridge, going to Newgrange.... Im scared now :P Im only 17, and my dates not 18 either, I hope they arent strict, or its a bottle of vodka slipped in my bag!

Do they search bags does anyone know, just at Debs in general?

Went to the Ardboyne for a Debs last year and there linked to Newgrange hotel. We all got searched going in, bags, patted down, fella's had to take their shoes off and sniffer dogs... bit over the top, but in the place they wernt strict on giving out drink. If you didn't have ID you had to sign a sheet saying you wouldn't drink on the premises *as if anyone stuck to that *
I would advise you not to bother trying to get drink in in your handbag.

Going to Newgrange for another Debs in September.. hope its good

Orlaladuck

I'm going to Rochestown Park hotel in August. It looks really nice and overall seems to get really positive reviews but I'm sure for debs.. anyone got a really good review of it? :pac:

muffinz

3_BOoYA_X wrote: »

Went to the Ardboyne for a Debs last year and there linked to Newgrange hotel. We all got searched going in, bags, patted down, fella's had to take their shoes off and sniffer dogs... bit over the top, but in the place they wernt strict on giving out drink. If you didn't have ID you had to sign a sheet saying you wouldn't drink on the premises *as if anyone stuck to that *
I would advise you not to bother trying to get drink in in your handbag.

Going to Newgrange for another Debs in September.. hope its good

Sniffer dogs holy shet are you serious?! If you brought anything in your bag, would they just conviscate it and thats that?

3_BOoYA_X

muffinz wrote: »

Sniffer dogs holy shet are you serious?! If you brought anything in your bag, would they just conviscate it and thats that?

Hem.. If you got caught id say there'd be serious sh1t :cool: Like during the night bouncers were draggin out lads that were acting dodgy or thought had anything on them and searching them... or highly intoxicated people, they made them sit in a room and sober up before they let them back into the nightclub.

muffinz

Ugh man that sucks!! I want a relaxed, amazing night, its the last time im gonna see everyone, i want it to be a night i cant remember :P

seanbmc

muffinz wrote: »

The Newgrange Hotel this year... anyone been there before?

Im going there

muffinz

ooh when are u going?