O'Donovan's Hotel — Hotel in West Cork

It's a fairly old fashioned hotel and badly in need of modernising. Some may say this isn't a bad thing and I'm not going to argue the point. The staff are nice enough though I'd say most have been working here a long time and go around as if they are bored in their work showing zero enthusiasm for their work or customer care. I ate lunch in the "family restaurant" during a meeting one day and was extremely disappointed. I choose roast beef from the carvery. The portion of beef was big which I liked but, sadly, it ended there. The mashed potatoes were more lumps than mash, how a cook or chef didn't notice this is beyond me, which suggests they simply didn't care. This opinion was enforced by the turnip puree being just as lumpy. Everything lacked seasoning. I would be surprised if any was used at all, especially in the turnips. I like to add some freshly ground black pepper and cream to mine when making them. They take a bitter vegetable and turn it into something wonderful. My meal was so bad I didn't eat it at all. Don't get me started on the gravy, which was obviously from a packet and like the aforementioned mashed potatoes and turnips was also lumpy. I had a glass of milk with my meal, I drank most of it until I discovered a layer of pure filth halfway down the glass. I was disgusted to discover it was inside the glass which left me retching and feeling sick to my stomach when I seen it. I complained to the waitress who, it seemed to me, didn't care at all. She spoke with someone at reception and told me I should go speak with this person to complain. I did and was surprised to discover the lady simply didn't care. She had an attitude of, I'm sorry but it was obvious she didn't care at all. Eventually after a few awkward minutes she offered me a refund, which I accepted. I know if it were my and a customer informed me of such a terrible dining experience I would have been upset with myself and my team and gone out of my way to put it right as best I could. Especially if the customer was given as filthy glass to drink from and only discovered just how filthy it was after drinking most of the beverage. Overall I wouldn't go back here for food even if I were offered a vast sum of money to do so. The bar is old-fashioned but comfortable with sockets dotted around so you can plug your laptop or phone in. The staff are courteous and do their jobs though, again, I couldn't help feel as if they wanted to be somewhere else and serving me was a chore. A lot of people in the service industry feel like this, I have myself on many occasions. Most of us never let the customer see this and serve them with the smile and attention to detail they deserve when spending their hard earned money. I can't in all good conscience recommend this place to anyone I'm afraid. There are many far better options...

Loved this hotel, family run. Beautiful brekkie in the morning and the best steak sandwich meal I have ever had. Staff were brilliant. Full of beans, very professional with Covid ppe and cleanliness. Reasonably priced alcohol and food. Very affordable. We got a great deal on the room. Hotel staff were very helpful from reception to residents bar. Couldn't fault the place. We got a beautiful room with a balcony, I'm pretty sure we lucked out with the best room in the house. It overlooks the car park and small side street so you can people watch and see the craic. Very pretty, rustic hotel, it's not a clinical luxury spa hotel so if that's what you are looking for maybe not for you. But lots to see hanging on the walls. Loads of knic knacks. Plenty of seating all around. If you want a home away from home, go for it! Don't second guess it. If you expect brand new modern clinical hotel rooms it is not that but you have everything you could want for, complimentary water in the room, a comfortable bed. I'm sure not all rooms have baths but ours did and maybe they do we didn't ask. Lots of clean towel and extra linen, and iron and soaps and shampoos. Clean, old rustic furniture, lovely bathroom. Plenty of space and air con. We needed the air con for sure as it was raining, but very heavy heat, so the room was lovely and warm and when it got too warm because of the weather, the air con was just the cherry on top. We still would have been happy but it really made us comfortable. It's sad that Covid is on going because there was no live music and you couldn't bar hop as you normally would, but despite it we still had a ball. The hotel made our stay for us. I will be back with many family and friends after Covid and maybe even before then. Really and truly a big thank you to all the staff. Sorry about the novel but credit where credit is due. Oh! Also it's a pet friendly hotel...

I stayed in O'Donovans for my hen do this weekend- August 2024. The booking process was flawless- the girls who organised the stay complimented how accommodating and wonderful the receptionist had been. Check-in was seamless. The rooms were ready early so we were able to drop our bags in before our activity- which was unexpected. The staff were superb.

Unfortunately we had an awful experience when we arrived back to the hotel that evening. We encountered a female night porter, who was very aggressive towards us. We later found out this woman is one of the owners of the hotel. When a group of 4 of us arrived home at 1am, we asked if we could have a drink before bed and we were shouted at. She told us she "knew our type and we wanted to drink all night." We were a very relaxed and respectful group of girls- noone had drank to excess and we were hoping to chat downstairs so we wouldnt make noise in the bedrooms. We were berated and ordered to get in the lift and go to bed.

She appeared to be in awful form because an Austrian couple had come down to the reception to complain about noise in the hotel- which happened before we had even arrived home. It appears that she then took her frustration out on the bride- who had the misfortune to be the next person to walk into the reception. When the next group of girls arrived home she made a comment to them that she had upset the bride earlier.

It was a really upsetting experience and really put a damper on...