"Hayfield Manor Hidden down a side street beside University College Cork, this Georgian hotel feels like a fancy family home with its vine-swathed, redbrick exterior, wood-paneled library furnished in deep chesterfield sofas, and lots of fire-warmed corners to curl up in when it’s raining. When the weather is fine, it’s a pleasant 10-minute walk to sites like the English Market that lie south of the River Lee; it’s about 30 minutes by foot to the Cork Butter Museum and Shandon Bells Tower on the river’s north side. While Hayfield Manor is certainly central to the 120,000-person city, it feels almost suburban thanks to two acres of pretty, flower-filled grounds. A bunch of resident rabbits hop between the cedar, beech, and chestnut trees that shade the greenhouse, and there’s a sometimes-sunny terrace for afternoon drinks. The elegant manor clearly has blue-blooded roots: the Musgrave family, who originally owned it, has come to rule the Irish grocery business since they opened their first greengrocer in Cork in 1876."
