Sheen Falls Lodge — Hotel in Kenmare Municipal District

Update: Return visit March 2023 Outstanding stay here early March. Whenever I have a great staycation, it's due to the staff and service. Sheen Falls IS great service.

Our room 101 was superb, DO pay for an upgrade, it's heavenly and made all the better by the housekeeping talent of Francis 👏👏👏 In reception, 5⭐ to Brian and D (apologies but his full name escapes me) The Falls Breakfast staff 5⭐ The Falls Dinner staff the same especially Mathiu. Outstanding fine dining experience.

Lizzie,in The Stables Restaurant 👍👍👍 The Spa/Pool staff always ready with a welcoming smile.

Such a treat and can't wait to get back.

Update: Return visit July 2021 and I've added another star. Gorgeous stay here, and during Covid Restrictions the hotel are doing an amazing job. Feel sorry for staff implementing all of this, but it makes it all very easy for guests. We had a great room overlooking the falls (worth paying the extra) food in the bar and restaurant, amazing and breakfast brilliantly handled. Staff here are the jewel in the crown. The spa area is beautiful and don't miss the river walk.

Nestled on the banks of the River Sheen and overlooking one of the gushing falls there, this is the perfect retreat from the daily grind. It's located about 5 minutes drive from the pretty and interesting town of Kenmare. Staff are very professional and friendly. Our room was huge and overlooked the falls AND Kenmare Bay, it was not the standard room, but paying the extra for it was worth it. It had everything you would need for a very comfortable stay. Food in both the Bistro and the Main dining room was very very good. There is a lovely river walk (privately owned by the hotel) which is very pretty and takes you all along the river for about 30 minutes to a weir. Lots of photo opportunities on the way. The hotel offers a great array of activities from hillwalking to shooting and fishing. The leisure centre has a nice pool, steam room, jacuzzi and sauna. The Spa there is good, and we used it once. Sheen Falls is not inexpensive, but for a special occasion, it is pretty much perfect. There were a few niggles during our stay which I reported and they were taken on board and hopefully they will be dealt with. Lost one star this review because when we visited there was zero atmosphere in the hotel, through no fault of the hotel, but maybe at that time of the year (March) it should not open for business if its not going to have...

My wife and I stayed at Sheen Falls as part of a friend's wedding weekend. We were impressed with everything associated with our stay - everything from checking in, accommodations, amenities, dining, and, most importantly, the staff.

Starting with the staff, small, thoughtful acts - like the treat waiting for us in the room after checking in - made us feel welcome in every way. The night before we left, I spoke with the staff to expedite the next morning's checkout since we were leaving before dawn. During this conversation, they offered to bring a bit of breakfast food to our room in the morning since we would be leaving prior to breakfast being served. I accepted their generous offer - and was still somehow surprised by the spread of food they provided in the morning. Given the long day of travel ahead, my wife and I were extremely thankful to have been able to get started on such a positive note. The staff performed to this level throughout our stay.

I don't feel like I need to go on about the amazing beauty of the accommodations or the grounds as the pictures online and in any of these reviews should speak for themselves. That said, we did walk the grounds and found them to be as picturesque as what we'd seen online.

I did look over some of the other reviews to see if there were any areas that might be helpful to address. The two primary concerns I could see were value and the staff. As for value, I'm not sure I understand the complaints there. Sheen Falls is a world-class resort and seems to be priced appropriately - but that's coming from a couple that typically does not spend this kind of money on accommodations. To us, it certainly felt like we were paying an appropriate rate given everything we experienced while at Sheen Falls - especially in contrast to other places we stayed during our travels.

As for the staff, we only had extremely positive interactions throughout, as I explained in the first part...

I find it surprising that a Relais & Châteaux hotel can get away with providing internet speeds from the early 2000s. I consistently saw download speeds under 5mbps, and in some cases saw speeds lower than 1mbps.

For context, Ireland's average household download speed is about 14mbps, which is still incredibly slow by today's standards for middle-class households (let alone a five-star resort). While I understand that vacation can be a great time to disconnect, not everyone has that luxury. That said, I strongly urge Sheen Resort to make the following changes:

Sign up for a commercial fiber internet plan. It may require some additional fiber to be laid for that "last mile", but I looked into it and it seems that Kenmare already has a fiber network in place.

Run a wireless router coverage check in each and every room (including common areas like the lobby, spa, and restaurant) to measure WiFi signal strength. Every inch of every room should have a strong connection to the nearest wireless access point (no lower than -60dBm). This should also include outdoor common areas when at all possible.

If you feel the need to use a guest network, make sure the guest network gets at LEAST 20mbps download speed. Also, make sure every room has a small instruction card placed prominently that describes how to to connect to the non-guest WiFi.

One final note: all room TV's really should be smart. Smart TVs have been the standard for over a decade. While replacing the old televisions would probably be best, you don't necessarily need to replace every TV. The minimum effort solution is to just plug in a Roku Streaming Stick (or Amazon Fire TV Stick) to each existing TV’s HDMI port.

While network speeds, signal strength, and smart TVs aren't as luxurious as a Michelin Guide tasting menu, not having these elements at the highest caliber is going to detract from the experience you are intending to provide to...