Check Out: a West Cork road trip to Rosscarbery's Celtic Ross Hotel

Set among stunning coastal scenery and historic locations, the Celtic Ross represents value for money as well as luxury

Sat, 16 Jul, 2022 - 02:00

Tom Breathnach

It's a sight synonymous with a West Cork road trip. The Celtic Ross Hotel, the landmark hotel with its trademark stone-clad round tower looking over Rosscarbery bay and causeway has long been one of the most popular accommodation stops along the Wild Atlantic Way.

I must have passed the property a hundred times over the years but this week seemed as good as any to make my debut visit. The family-run hotel, operated by the Wycherleys for 25 years, has just been awarded with the Fáilte Ireland four-star rating so I paid a visit to rate the upgrade.

First impressions

On the hottest day of the summer, the Celtic Ross with its stunning coastal location and bright grounds dotted with palm trees, petunias, and pink rose mallows, is the epitome of the Cork Rivieras. Outside, the hotel’s popular CRAFT West Cork food truck is serving road-trippers Rosscarbery pork sausage rolls and goats cheese quiches while the servers of the hotel’s Kingfisher Bistro are busy delivering cool-down drinks to al fresco diners.

Inside, I meet the hotel’s affable GM, Neil Grant, who tells me about just some of the recent efforts to improve the hotel from purchasing new furniture for all the bedrooms, to re-carpeting the bistro, lobby, tower, and Library Bar.

“We’ve also re-painted the vast majority of all bedrooms, installed accessible sockets in over half of the bedrooms, purchased new curtains in 40 bedrooms and new hair dryers for all rooms, installed new shower rails and screens in bathrooms throughout the hotel, re-surfaced a large section of the carpark and driveway,” he said.

It’s a lot of effort which has paid dividends to the comfort of the lobby but I’m sorry that they didn’t incorporate more of a coastal seascape into the colour scheme (there’s a lot of red carpet and furniture to take in) which would create more of in-out flow with the stunning surroundings.

At reception, the welcome is warm, with Caoimhe even checking us in as Gaeilge (a novelty … and we’re not even in Gougane Barra) and we’re soon off to ár seomra in anticipation.

Suite talk

Joined by friend Deb, I was staying in one of the hotel’s third-floor twin rooms overlooking the causeway and the inflatable waterpark in the bay across the road. Unlike the lobby, the room is decorated with more of that seashore colour palette with greys and teals offering a much better compliment to the waterfront.

It’s light and airy, with crisp white linens and various new furnishings, from curtains, arm-chairs and a nice new carpet which feels plush to feet. The bedside lockers and dresser also feature countertop map prints which, along with the hotel’s specially curated walking booklet offers some good inspiration to explore the area. There’s also a Nespresso machine and Barry’s Tea (obviously) as standard.

Given the recent work, the room has a fresh feel though some of those original furnishings (bedroom lockers, dresser, and wardrobe) seem to have an upcycled look and, now bearing a few grazes could be taken up another gear to give the room as a whole more of a cohesive polished look.

It’s a similar scéal in the bathroom (shower only) which is spacious, spic and span, but a little dated. Touches like products from the Irish Soap Company and a hand painted “Take a walk on the Warren” offer more boutique touches.

It should be noted that given its location alongside the main Wild Atlantic Way thoroughfare, traffic noise could be an issue for light sleepers and road-facing rooms. But we both slept well and the warble from house martens in a nest outside our window was a very pleasant morning call.

Dining

The Celtic Ross, long a champion of local produce, is a proud member of Good Food Ireland and dining is where those four stars really start to shine.

We ate at the Kingfisher Bistro, where I enjoy a flavourful and beautifully presented local chowder (€9.50) followed by a main of Union Hall plaice on a bed of dill-sprinkled potatoes and crab meat (€25) all capped by a gooey gluten-free brownie. Along with a zesty Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc, the €50pp total represented decent value by current standards.

Breakfast the next morning (you order by filling in a menu card at your table), provided generous choices of fruits, yoghurts, charcuterie, and granola.

For my hot choice, I had a kipper on gluten-free seed bread, the latter making a welcome novelty given the many sub-par coeliac-friendly breads I’m offered.

My main dish’s presentation lacked the sophistication of the dinner experience the night before and perhaps a lemon wedge or a sprinkling of parsley could have elevated the look.

But it was a tasty start to the day and with B&B rates here bumped up by just €10 per head, it’s also excellent value compared to some hotels charging €20 for not a lot more.

Location, location

Arguably, the setting of Celtic Ross is its top trump card. Set right behind the hotel is picture-postcard Rosscarbery Village which, as one of the few West Cork villages you can actually bypass, curiously remains a bit of a hidden gem.

The village square is a postcard setting of restaurants, pubs, a pocket sized post office and garda station plus really charming cottage rentals from Celtic Cottages too. Michelin Star Pilgrim’s is one of the village’s destination restaurants but don’t overlook Market House, a popular spot for locals too.

To take advantage of the weather, we paid a visit to nearby Warren Beach (expect traffic mayhem on a belter), enjoyed Galley Head Lighthouse come evening (expect sunset heaven on a belter) and paid a morning visit to Drombeg, one of Ireland’s finest stone circles.

A stop at the Fish Basket for coffee before a stroll along Long Strand offered the perfect send-off for our road-trip back east.

Check out?

We enjoyed a lovely stay at the hotel with dining and the extremely friendly team being the highlights of our trip.

The Celtic Ross, with room only rates of €159 for double occupancy represents decent value for one of the most scenic pockets of West Cork.

At times I found the décor of the hotel uninspiring and it could do with some updating to create a coastal haven indoors as well as outdoors.

Interiors of other four-star hotels in Cork, like Garryvoe Hotel, set the standard but it’s also worth noting that the latter’s room rates are about €40 more per night.

Credit too to the Celtic Ross for creating dining packages which actually represent a deal and not, as so often with other properties, are actually just a bundle with little savings.

If you avail of the dinner deal, three courses will only cost you €32.50.

New menus are coming this week too. The hotel also features a pool and leisure centre which is complimentary to guests.