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The Park Hotel Kenmare is a five-star hotel on the shores of Kenmare Bay in County Kerry, in the south-west of Ireland. Originally opened in 1897, the elegant 19th-century mansion is set within 12 acres of gardens. The hotel is a member of Relais & Châteaux and Ireland’s Blue Book, and holds Two Michelin Keys.
Since taking over Park Hotel Kenmare in 2023, Bryan and Tara Meehan have overseen a significant investment programme. This includes refreshed guest rooms, the introduction of the Landscape Suites and the addition of the Landscape Spa. The result is a hotel that retains its long-established character while feeling distinctly renewed.
Check-in was warm and unhurried. We were invited to settle in over a glass of sparkling wine before being shown around the hotel and escorted to our room.
Art is integral to the experience at Park Hotel Kenmare. The Meehan’s have assembled a contemporary collection featuring works by Sean Scully, Andy Warhol, Dorothy Cross, Theaster Gates and Park Seo-Bo, displayed throughout the hotel. Each piece has been thoughtfully positioned, adding character without overwhelming the property’s original features. Daily art tours take place at 5PM and are open to both guests and visitors alike. The hotel’s Art at the Park book provides further information on the collection.
There are 49 rooms and suites in total, including six new Landscape Suites introduced as part of the hotel’s spa development. We stayed in one of these new categories: a Landscape Suite. Launched in August 2026, the six suites were designed by Jo Nagasaka of the Tokyo-based firm Schemata Architects.
In contrast to the antique-filled Kenmare Bay Suites, the Landscape Suites have a more contemporary, pared-back approach, placing the view at the centre of the design. Irish limestone and oak line the walls and floors, while floor-to-ceiling windows look across Kenmare Bay and the surrounding woodland.
Our suite was generously proportioned, with a deep stone bath set beside the window and a dark-stone bathroom with a large walk-in shower. There is also a subtle nod to Jo Nagasaka’s Tokyo roots in the Japanese TOTO toilet, complete with a heated seat and automatic censored lid – one of the nicest small surprises of the stay.
The king-size bed, located in the centre of the room, faces across Kenmare Bay. The suite also includes a sofa and a table with chairs. The television is positioned on a side wall, which allows it to be viewed from both the bed and seating area without interrupting the view.
Amenities include Dyson hairdryers, a clothes steamer, Grown Alchemist toiletries and 300-thread-count Italian bed linen. Our suite also featured artwork from the Meehan family’s contemporary art collection: a piece by the British artist Damien Hirst.
The plush, green, logo-branded robes were among the most comfortable I have worn. A walk-in wardrobe provides ample storage. The suites are also equipped with air conditioning and soft-close doors – small but welcome details that enhance the calm, restful feel of the space.
Coffee deserves a mention of its own. Park Hotel Kenmare is the only hotel in Europe to serve Blue Bottle Coffee, including an exclusive house blend and a selection of the brand’s signature roasts, many of which are certified organic.
Blue Bottle instant-coffee sachets were provided in the room along with a premium electric kettle, teapot and loose-leaf tea. Homemade cookies and nuts were a particularly thoughtful touch. All suites also include a complimentary minibar stocked with kombucha, a half-bottle of rosé and crisps.
Turndown service was offered each evening. On one occasion, it had not been completed by the time we returned to the suite, though the team attended to it promptly afterwards.
Dining at Landline, Park Hotel Kenmare’s fine-dining restaurant, centres on the beautiful Sean Scully Room. The restaurant takes its name from Landline Edge (2017), a work by Sean Scully displayed in the room, while views across Kenmare Bay to the Caha Mountains provide a stunning backdrop.
Led by Head Chef James O’Sullivan, Landline has a strong sense of place. The cooking is seasonal and grounded in Irish ingredients, with produce sourced from local suppliers.
Breakfast is served in Landline each morning, from 7AM to 10.30AM on weekdays and from 7AM to 11AM at weekends. It is entirely à la carte – there is no buffet – but the menu is extensive, ranging from a full Irish breakfast to lighter dishes and Blue Bottle Coffee. Breads are baked in-house daily, and a basket of pastries is brought around the room for guests to choose from. The brown soda bread is not to be missed!
A daily gazette is placed on each table, outlining the day’s activities, weather forecast and other useful information for guests.
Dinner is equally compelling. James O’Sullivan’s menus change with the seasons, pairing refined cooking with Irish culinary traditions and ingredients from both land and sea. The €90 two-course or €105 three-course set menu, including canapés, bread and petit fours, was one of the highlights of our stay.
Our dinner began with a gougère filled with Coolea cheese, topped with Parmesan custard and red-onion gel, served with rye bread and butter. Still and sparkling water is bottled in-house under the hotel’s Calm and Stormy labels.
My starter was Spillane’s crabmeat with wakame, apple, almond, fig and peach ajo blanco. For the main course, Kerry Hill lamb was served as both rump and braised shoulder, alongside violet artichoke, olive tapenade and aubergine. Potatoes and green beans were served on the side. Dessert was Irish strawberries with woodruff-set cream and elderflower sorbet, followed by apricot pâte de fruit petit fours.
It was an excellent dinner from start to finish, with delicious food, consistently attentive service and beautiful views across Kenmare Bay.
Families are welcomed at the 6.30PM sitting, while later sittings are reserved for adult guests. It is a sensible approach that balances both without either feeling short-changed.
For something more relaxed, the Garden Rooms and Outdoor Terrace offer informal daytime dining. The Garden Rooms serve an all-day menu from 11.30AM to 5.30PM, with options for lunch, morning coffee and afternoon scones. The Outdoor Terrace is particularly appealing on a sunny day.
From 4PM to 5PM each day, guests can enjoy complimentary tea and cake in the Living Room.
In the evenings, the Cocktail Bar hosts live piano music nightly from 6.30PM to 9.30PM, alongside inventive cocktails, including a Blue Bottle Espresso Martini. Live musicians perform on Tuesdays. Whiskey tastings are also available.
The hotel offers private cellar tastings for two, each with a guided tasting of four wines. Options include the €85 La Coste Wines Experience, featuring wines from Château La Coste in Provence, and the €185 French Regions Wine Experience, covering French appellations including the Bordeaux region.
The hotel’s new spa, Landscape, opened in August 2026 and is one of Park Hotel Kenmare’s most significant recent additions and is designed as a wellness destination. The atmosphere is calm, tactile and beautifully considered.
At the centre of Landscape is the Stone Bath, a communal mineral bath kept at 38°C and open to the elements year-round. It is built around a single large stone from the Dromgarriff Rainforest, Park Hotel Kenmare’s sister property, and framed by an original stone window looking towards Kenmare Bay.
A sauna, cold plunge and steam room sit alongside the Stone Bath. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer clear views across the bay and bring natural light into the space. Photovoltaic solar panels cover the roof, generating renewable electricity for the building.
Landscape also includes a 25-metre lap pool with a glass-walled sauna, five treatment rooms, a Technogym fitness room, and a dedicated yoga and Pilates studio equipped with both Reformer and Cadillac machines. Treatments draw on products from the marine-led Irish skincare brand Seabody and Austrian skincare line Susanne Kaufmann.
I had the 60-minute Landscape Signature Body Massage, which uses Seabody products. The treatment began with a glass of kombucha and an infused hand towel before I was shown to the treatment room. Afterwards, I was brought to the relaxation room, where floor-to-ceiling windows look out across the bay. Tea was served with homemade sorbet and protein balls – an especially pleasant end to a deeply relaxing treatment.
The lap pool, sauna and gym are open daily from 7.30AM to 7.30PM, with treatments available from 10AM to 6PM. Complimentary yoga classes are also offered.
Activities include falconry on the hotel lawns, complimentary guided walks with Shane, the hotel gardener, and summer boat cruises on Kenmare Bay. Guests can also enjoy complimentary bicycles, tennis and croquet, while the Kerry Way and Beara Way offer excellent nearby hill-walking routes. Horse riding and fishing excursions with a local ghillie can also be arranged.
The hotel is next to Kenmare Golf Club, with reserved tee times and trolleys available for guests. Waterville, Ballybunion, Tralee and other courses along the Ring of Kerry are all within driving distance.
Located in the heart of Kenmare town, the hotel is an ideal base for exploring the Ring of Kerry, the Beara Peninsula and the Wild Atlantic Way. Killarney and Dingle are also within easy reach by car.
Families are well catered for. Younger guests have access to a playroom, bicycles, board games, tennis facilities and the private cinema room.
The hotel is dog-friendly, with dogs weighing up to 50lb welcome in a limited number of designated rooms. Dogs are provided with a pet bed, food and water bowls, a dog-walking map and an ‘à la bark’ menu. They are not permitted in the dining room, bar or lounge areas, and a €65 nightly cleaning supplement applies.
Sustainability is an increasingly visible part of the hotel’s approach. They have committed to achieving a net-zero carbon footprint by 2030 and have introduced EV chargers for guests as part of its wider environmental programme.
Park Hotel Kenmare manages to feel both grand and genuinely relaxed – a difficult balance, but one it achieves with ease. Its serious art collection, impressive new Landscape Spa and deeply restful Landscape Suites each add a distinct layer to the experience. From waking to views across Kenmare Bay to ending the day with a drink beside the piano in the Cocktail Bar, there is a sense that the hotel encourages guests to slow down and settle into its surroundings.
What stays with you, though, is the consistency. Every member of staff we encountered was warm and welcoming, whether during check-in, at breakfast or over dinner in Landline. The food was exceptional, plate after plate, while the service remained attentive and personable throughout.
The hotel does not rely on one headline feature to make its case. Instead, it brings together heritage, art, food and the surrounding landscape to create something that feels entirely its own. Whatever else features on an itinerary along the Ring of Kerry or the Wild Atlantic Way, Kenmare deserves considerably more than a passing stop.
Check availability, view rates and book your stay here.
For more information, visit https://www.parkkenmare.com/.
Cliona was a guest of Park Hotel Kenmare; however, all opinions expressed are her own.