St. Finbarr's Oratory

Schull is a gem. Loads to do locally with lots of walks/hikes to explore and enjoy, which is why my wife and I were there. There is an abundance of water sports/activities available and the ferry to the islands.Each of the local towns have a trail head, where a number of looped walks start, and there are also walks to the next town where you can get lunch etc before returning to the start. The hotel is directly across the road from the trailhead and a large car park. The food in the hotel excellent, the staff are friendly and helpful, the rooms are spacious, well maintained and recently refurbished. The rooms at the front have spectacular views of the harbour and islands. It is a short drive to neighbouring towns/villages and to the Mizen. It might be a bit of a drive to get there, but I used this as an opportunity to stop along the way and (re)discover this part of west Cork; it did not disappoint, with loads more to discover when I return to the area.

This is an old hotel that is being updated. My room was completely modern as was the bath. Both the room and bath had opening windows! The location is great, about 7 minutes walk from the train station, 5 minutes to the bus station and 5-10 minutes to the city center. The only glitch I encountered was when I tried to take the stairs instead of the one elevator - that's when I discovered that not all of the hotel has been renovated yet. The pathway to use the stairs was a bit disjointed and involved two different sets of stairs that seemed to be from two different eras.

Excellent breakfast buffet and bar food