Hotel review: Kerry five-star is ‘probably one of the best-value hotel stays in Ireland’

The Kenmare five-star has quietly been evolving into a confident, contemporary country resort, with splashes of colourful art and a new brasserie to tuck into

Sheen Falls Lodge: What it's like to stay at Co Kerry's most surprising five-star

Pól Ó Conghaile

Tone is a tricky thing to hit in a hotel. How does a stay make you feel? From random chats with staff to the paintings on the walls or layout of a breakfast buffet, it’s about both little details and lasting impressions. It’s an art and a science.

Sheen Falls Lodge aces it. This is an evolving resort, and I note several work-ons, but the feeling that settles as I arrive, and stays with me after I leave, is delicious. The elevated-yet-earthy greens of its carpets, splashes of art, thoughtful service (a doorman finds us in the restaurant, wondering if we’d like the fire lit in our room), combined with the Kenmare Bay setting, hit the bullseye.