KENMARE, Ireland -- Sheen Falls Lodge is a sprawling five-star Relais & Chateaux property sited on 300 acres in southwest Ireland that offers sweeping views across Kenmare Bay plus the more intimate sights and roaring sounds of Sheen River Falls.
Its rooms and public spaces generally range from roomy to spacious -- you get the idea -- but, during my recent stay, my favorite was the smallest room. The room with no windows, no views: the Wine Cellar.
The appeal wasn't merely the 10,000 bottles of wine; it was about the snug, evocative, below-ground setting, fitted out with de rigueur wine displays plus brick walls, long wooden tables, a few barrel tables and candlelight.
It's the setting for wine, gin and whiskey tastings as well as prearranged dinners for up to 12. Those dinners are served from the menu at the upstairs Falls Restaurant and best booked at least a month ahead.
Last spring, the Michelin Guide launched a program to recognize
outstanding hotels, in the way it awards stars to restaurants, by
awarding one, two or three keys to hotels for product excellence. Sheen
Falls Lodge earned two keys and was among 14 Irish honorees when recipients were named in October. Also among those honored was the five-star Merrion, a Leading Hotels property in Dublin, also earning two keys (see sidebar).
Sheen Falls Lodge's Wine Cellar is a snug, below-ground setting for wine, gin and whiskey tastings as well as prearranged dinners for up to 12. Photo Credit: Nadine Godwin
From fishing lodge to five-star resort
Photo Credit: Nadine Godwin
The beloved city-center hotel was created by combining four 1760s
Georgian houses and restoring or reconstructing historical interior features.
I spent a few nights at the Sheen Falls Lodge. The property originated as a 17th century fishing lodge, but, a few iterations later, it offers luxury accommodations in 66 rooms plus three villas and two cottages.
Amenities and cozy comforts include a particularly homey library, a modern spa complex, dining in the Stables Brasserie (yes, former stables) and afternoon tea. Kenmare town, good for shopping and a visit to an ancient stone circle, is less than two miles away.
The lodge, true to its origins, remains an ideal base for outdoorsy things like cycling, hiking, kayaking or tennis. Salmon fishing is still a big draw. For riding, the on-property horses lost out to the brasserie but are nearby. And, the lodge's Ring of Kerry Golf Club is five miles away.
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Guest relations staff will book these or other choices. For our group, this meant a session with an expert falconer, providing an up-close look at a Harris hawk and a couple of owls, sitting on our gloved hands, no less.
Falconer Liam Regan presents his great grey owl, which will perch on each guest’s wrist in turn. Photo Credit: Nadine Godwin
And, a session with a genealogist. The lodge connects interested guests with the genealogist before arrival to give her one or two weeks to pin down the guests' ancestral links to the Emerald Isle.
The lodge sits between the Ring of Kerry and the Ring of Beara, each good for a day's scenic outing for watery views, mountain passes and locally popular pubs.
Starting rates range from around $250 to $870, double, depending on season, including breakfast and taxes.