Courtmacsherry Hotel. Small place. Big Heart.

Courtmacsherry Hotel.

Small place. Big Heart. 

Delicious Ummera smoked salmon

Six was our lucky number when we arrived at the 10-room Courtmacsherry Hotel last weekend. We were in the lovely estuary village for a superb wine-dinner at the village’s Lifeboat Inn. And yes, there is a lifeboat station here.

A warm welcome became even warmer when we were informed that we had been upgraded, to number 6. We had been in that very room a year back and it’s a beauty with three fairly large windows and two of them have direct views over the magnificent Courtmacsherry Bay. 

The renovations hadn't quite finished last year (and indeed there are still some going on before the hotel opens full-time at the start of June). But number six has now been more or less completed. The compact bathroom is very impressive with beautiful wall tiling, a lovely retro cistern and also a fine mirror with inbuilt lighting (just put your finger on a little disk). In the spacious room itself, there is new decor and a smashing new brand new carpet. We had all we needed, including wi-fi, tea-making facilities and hairdryer and a very comfortable bed. 

The mini Irish

The only thing lacking was a wardrobe but maybe that will be there come June. There is room for it. In the meantime, there is a large chest of drawers and a couple of spacious bedside lockers. By the way, if you are booking in here, do ask for a front facing room.

The reception was very friendly and efficient. There’s no big rush here and they also have time for a chat when you’re departing. In between we called to the bar of course, a very relaxing spot indeed with good drink and better conversation.

Part of the dining room

Breakfast was also very good. Aside from the buffet, which had adequate cereals, fruit and so on (this will expand as the season develops), we had an impressive list of dishes available from the kitchen. We could have had Flahavan’s Porridge, a Vegetarian option, various egg dishes, kippers, waffles and more.

Local producers are supported here and one of the offerings that tempted us was the Scrambled Eggs with Ummera Smoked Salmon. The smokery is just up the road in Timoleague and we know the product is top notch and so it proved again last Saturday. 

Meanwhile, I was tucking into the Full Irish, the mini-version (not that mini!) as you can see from the pic. Just being careful after the wine dinner of the night before!

View from #6

And not too long afterwards we were saying our goodbyes and leaving the friendly staff to prepare for the day ahead, a day that included communion meals. While they are only open at weekends, they have quite a lot to keep them going here including weddings, communions and confirmations, parties, and matches on the big screen. Even Fools and Horses are due to visit soon!

And then there’s the Seven Heads bar and its popular outside section. The hotel building, which dates from Victorian times (you’ll note those high ceilings), provide shelter and also reflects the sun back to the al fresco diners and drinkers. There is a lovely old cork tree in the middle of the manicured lawn and lots of tables and chairs around as well.

And if you are the more active type, there is no shortage of activity in the general area. One of our favourites, and we did it before check in, is to take the walk through the nearby woods, especially when it’s full of wild garlic and bluebells (which should be the case now), emerge at the other side with splendid views of the ocean and some of the Seven Heads. Don’t forget to turn back though as the full walk is over 42 kilometres!