Fota Island Resort

Lodges are good but not perfect. The water pump is extremely noisy and woke us during the night if any tap was used or a toilet flushed. The grounds are beautiful and well worth following a few of the marked walking trails. Amber lounge has good food but a small menu and for the second night dinner we struggled to choose what to eat. Overall, good but could be better.

We stayed in the aviary self catering lodge for 4 nights and had such a brilliant stay. Firstly the lodge was very comfortable, large 3 bedrooms with 3 bathrooms. Ample storage, fluffy towels and we'll equipped kitchen. Lovely patio area looking out over huge playground which we used only once due to bad weather - this would be a fantastic amenity in summer. We visited the pool many times during our trip and the kids loved it, you need to prebook but we didn't mind. The changing rooms are small so we're crowded twice of the 8 times we visited the pool,good hair dryers in pool area! |Whole hotel is spotless and smells divine everywhere - fresh flowers and some scent, just fabulous. Their staff are amazing, so attentive friendly and capable. We are in the restaurant twice and food was superb, kids food was out in 4 minutes both times which was extremely impressive. They brought pictures and crayons right away both times to the kids and asked if they wanted juice ( not charged for, which I thought was a lovely touch). There's a kids cinema just off the lobby which is a great facility, small room with a large screen and beanbags on the floor just off the lobby. We had a drink while kids watched it for half an hour. Also - the hotel offers a taxi service back to the lodge, no need to book it just ask at reception and we used that twice with no wait time at 7.30pm it was brilliant.|Fota wildlife Park is 3mins drive away - such a super place, our kids loved it. Cork city is a short ten mins by car.|Couldn't say enough about the place, top notch hotel food and service. Will definitely be back again next year - in summer!

The whole experience is so friendly and relaxing. The staff go over and above to make your stay a memorable one. The food is mouth-watering.||The Spa is spectacular with an outdoor sauna set in beautifully manicured gardens. You will feel the better of having visited this little piece of Heaven.

I always find that my engagement as I book a hotel etc. can make either a good impression of the place/service or the opposite and can actually determine whether or not I follow through with the booking. We booked a 3 night stay for ourselves in the hotel and our family and their children stayed in the lodges. It was always a joy to call the reservations team, they were very patient and extremely professional as we clarified details. Nothing was an issue, a very straightforward affair and a very friendly service from each member of the team, including Ayla and Teresa. Thank you! ||We arrived too early with children who were tired and frustrated from a long journey. We were all a bit frazzled. This was immediately sensed by John a member of the concierge team. There was subtle communication between him, the pool team, the front desk etc. and before long we were facilitated with access to the pool where the kiddies had a blast and frustrations melted away. This was how our visit continued - nothing was too much for the staff here. It was an absolute joy to stay at FOTA and I would be back in a heartbeat.

Lovely hotel. Very comfortable room with large bathroom, tv, mini fridge, hairdrier, kettle etc. Staff were very professional and friendly. Breakfast was delicious. ||||Great to have a pool, sauna and jacuzzi also. Fota wildlife park 3 mins drive away. Cobh short spin away.

Really friendly staff, lovely cosy room, excellent food. Pool and Jacuzzi were very pleasant. The restaurant has a live piano and cello playing which was very nice. We also went to Fota Island which was great, a lot of animals to see and it took around 3 hours to do. Fota Island is just 2km from the hotel.

We stayed in the lodges. They were spacious and comfortable….perfect for a family. We had breakfast & dinner in the hotel, the food was delicious. The staff were lovely. We also went to Fota adventure centre…..the kids said it was the best day ever.

Beautiful hotel, excellent service and nice food. Found a bit hard to organise around activities and spa due to need to schedule in advance. The smells around the hotel were nice but too strong, specially for migraine sufferers.

Currently staying at the Fota for work. I arrived 8/4 after a 17 hour flight from SFO. Sean at the concierge was amazing! He stowed my luggage and told me to peek if the breakfast buffet is still open (which was not). Sean then led me to the bar (yep, at high noon) and asked Pat (bartender) to take care of me. I got my coffee (and a chocolate chip cookie) and waited until they were ready to serve lunch. Food was fresh and headed to the registration. I know they have a policy of check in at 4 pm but Beverley (front desk) was able to get me checked in around 3 pm. I also had a great session at the Spa. Rebecca was able to work my kinks and the service was better than other spas I have been too. Bed is firm (which is my preference) and pillows are heavenly!

Well where to begin, perhaps at the bottom of, what seems like, the mile long drive up to the hotel. Watch out for the speed bumps!! The hotel/resort is set on an actual island. Attached to the hotel is the Forta Golf course, which I was told has hosted some major golf tournaments. There is a wildlife park, tennis courts, football training pitches and the island even has its own train station. There are several trails which you can walk or run around, if you are that way inclined. The island is very green and picturesque, the sun rise is particularly good if you have one of the front facing bedrooms. The bedrooms are very well appointed with all the bits you would expect, large bed, desk area, sofa chairs and ample wardrobe space if you have lots of clothes to store. The hotel staff could not do more for you. Yes I know it is the service industry but they all seemed genuinely happy to help, even with very very mundane things. Now I was there over a weekend and they had one wedding party on the Friday and one in the Saturday night, if you are staying on the 1st floor you will hear the music into the early hours, be warned. The food was ok, although we were stuck on the tournament menu which was not very good but looking at the food served to other guests it looked good. They have a very good bar with good bar staff, plenty of Irish whiskey's to sample. Our Irish counter parts were in there one night until 5am!! A good venue with high quality accommodation. Would definitely come back here.

Popped in with 2 friends for coffee and pastries. All I can say is that is exactly what I would recommend to do ther . Soooooo Chilled and comfortable, you could spend hours sitting, relaxing and catching up with friends in lovely luxurious surroundings. Plenty of easy parking also

Pure DECADENCE. Five stars of snootiness and luxury. We stopped in to get lunch and were refused from the BAR (by an extremely smarmy front of house) as we hadn't got a reservation? But were sat in the restaurant instead? Confused. The Steak sandwich and beef burger were amazing. The open fire we were sat next to wasn't, as for some reason there was no heat from it at all? €34 in total for one burger, one sandwich and two tap waters. Ching-ching.

Afternoon Tea - what's not to like about it!? Dainty sandwiches, pretty cakes and fancy coffee all eaten in the afternoon when you could probably be doing something much more productive. But you're not, you are eating cake in the afternoon while gossiping with friends - amazing!! Recently I travelled to Fota Island Resort for a wedding with a friend as her plus one. I didn't know the couple very well but am very easy to entice with promises of a spa day and lots of cake! To start our weekend off we settled ourselves into the big comfy chairs in the Amber Lounge and ordered afternoon tea which was included in our Afternoon Indulgence spa package. Like all good afternoon tea outings we began with tea and coffee which was swiftly followed by an enticing three tier cake stand filled with goodies. This afternoon tea was slightly different to normal as it was a healthy options version due to it being part of the spa package. The first tier consisted of smoked salmon on brown bread, shots of tomato juice and a deconstructed caprese salad.This was followed by a second layer of fresh scones with pots of butter and raspberry jam to lash on top of them. Afternoon tea was then finished off with slices of lemon cake and a nutty type sponge slice both of which were lovely. We were well and truly full by the time we finished and were totally relaxed and ready for our treatments. The spa in Fota Island is also one of the nicest I have ever been too. The whole experience was wonderful and worth every penny. The staff were knowledgeable and polite and the spa itself was well kept and very clean. As a former employee of a day spa I have very high standards when I am paying for a treatment and Fota lived up to all my expectations. They catered to our every need and made us feel like we were paying a lot more for the experience than we were. The Afternoon Indulgence Spa Package cost €65 and includes a range of options which you can view here. If I lived closer I would be taking advantage of their special offers on a regular basis.

Had a spa day with my family. Had the lunch and 2 treatments deal. The staff were great. Lunch was lovely and they catered for a vegan in the afternoon tea. We were able to use the relaxation space before our treatments. All the treatments were lovely and relaxing.

I stayed in this hotel a few months ago after I got a deal on groupon for €115 for 2 people bed & breakfast. Its a 5 star hotel so you cant get a better deal than that. When I first drove up, I didn't think the outside of the hotel looked great, not like a 5 star hotel. When I walked in however, it was beautiful inside and the staff were so unbelievably helpful. The room was lovely & spacious, nice big bath, lovely shower. We also got a complimentary bottle of wine, it was red and I prefer white so I called reception and within 2 minutes a member of staff had given us the bottle of white. We had 2 spa treatments, the pricing was ok for a 5 star hotel but the treatments were the best treatments I've ever had. If I'm ever in Cork again, I'll find it hard not to go there for a treatment. We also had dinner in the restaurant in the hotel. It was really nice, esp the main meal.. I would def stay here again.. Very enjoyable stay :)

I have mixed feelings about this hotel. Though the grounds are beautiful, the facilities themselves (hotel rooms, restaurants, etc.) are just ok. Service has been a hit and miss, wherein you get folks who constantly check to make sure you're attended to versus some who consider you almost invisible. If I just wasn't polite, I would have just walked out a number of times as the check had taken so long to get. On a couple of occasions, there was an error too. Not sure if it was the fact that I don't look local or well polished enough to get A+ service but regardless, I did not get that during my stay. To me, it was between a B and C grade. I was only here for a short business trip and during this time, I had tried to book a treatment with the spa, only to find that they've been booked at least a couple days ahead already. As i understand that there is a 'membership' of sorts that they keep and probably get preferred treatment over hotel guests, it is very disappointing that I did not get an opportunity or have been made special accommodations to taste this supposed top class spa service.