Showing posts with label Maritime Hotel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maritime Hotel. Show all posts

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Bantry's Maritime Hotel. Convenient and Comfortable Gateway to West Cork

Bantry's Maritime Hotel. 

Convenient and Comfortable Gateway to West Cork 

The Natural Growing Company display


If you are intending to stay in Bantry, then make it a Thursday night. Why? Because the fabulous Bantry Market takes over the town on Fridays. It is huge with all kinds of everything on offer.


The market is not all about food, far from it, though you can get quite a lot of it there. Gubbeen of course have their cheese and smoked meats and there are eggs, potatoes and vegetables, not to mention fruit and other produce, are all available.There are a hot food stands as well. 

Pasta mains at Maritime


You can buy carpets and other household items,  bric-a-brac galore and certainly lots and lots of tools. There are stalls selling hand tools, a whole range of gloves (mostly for work) and you may find one selling fishing gear.


An amazing market. You can buy anything here, from a needle to an octopus, from a glove to a carpet, and live chickens (even more animals on the first Friday of summer months when a fair is added to the event). The receptionist at the hotel told us that those first Fridays were the days to visit!

Outdoor dining facilty in the square


And that Maritime Hotel is our usual base when we are in the town by the Atlantic. It is comfortable and so well situated, so close to the central square, on the main road to nearby magnificent drives both east (Sheep’s Head, and Mizen) and west (Beara, the Healy Pass). It is a friendly place and another advantage of staying on a Thursday is that they provide music in the bar. Don’t worry if you can’t make Thursdays as other nights will be just as good!


Anyhow we were there recently on a Thursday (Mar 30th) and it was lashing, so bad we couldn’t take a planned stroll through the town. But we had arrived fine and dry thanks to their superb car park. It is just across the road and underground with a lift up to the reception or to your room. Excellent.


Maritime fish cakes


We had been well filled at lunch in the Killarney Brewery and Distillery in Fossa and didn’t need a big dinner so we headed to the hotel bar. Glad to see that they had 9 White Deer Kolsch, one of our favourite drinks on draught plus quite a list of bottled craft beer. The Kolsch went down well followed by a very enjoyable Green Spot.


Plenty of choice on the menu: soups, sandwiches, starters, mains and Roisín’s desserts plus an impressive list of specials. CL went for one of the latter, the Salmon and Sweetcorn Fishcakes. This was billed as a starter but wasn’t far off main dish size. Never got sweetcorn in a fish cake before but these, with a side salad, were very good indeed. 



My pick was the Seafood Pasta (locally caught Shellfish and Seafood bound in Rich Tomato Sauce Served with Garlic Bread). No shortage of fish and the sauce brought it all together. Happy with that and my later Green Spot!


No Green Spot in the morning as breakfast was served in the rather splendid Ocean Restaurant. Well, it was more self-service. There were a few items, including pancakes, that could be ordered for the kitchen but, after muesli and fruit and juice of course, we headed for the buffet and build our own version of the full, maybe partial, Irish. Either way, it was quite satisfactory.

O'Driscoll's fish, of Schull, sure get around


A few minutes later and we were strolling along the square and through the market stalls. First though we saw how the town had taken to outdoor dining with a variety of covered seating places.


We had one particular stall in mind and were glad to see it there just off the northern end of the square where we filled a pretty big box with plants, a few herbs, plus spinach, mixed lettuce, and curly kale, all from the local Natural Growing Company. Not the easiest carry back to the carpark but we made it, said goodbye to Bantry and its market and headed for the city.

The Maritime (from a previous visit)


Sunday, April 3, 2022

The Maritime Hotel & Bantry Town. Great Base For West Cork & South East Kerry

The Maritime Hotel & Bantry Town

Great Base For West Cork & South East Kerry.



Our base for a recent quick trip to Bantry was the town's Maritime Hotel. And an excellent place it is, with very courteous staff, from reception, to bar to breakfast. Comfortable spacious rooms here, all with a view over the harbour. 



Made a call to the bar and confirmed (again) The Maritime supports local drinks producers - gins, whiskey and beer - and I was delighted to see the 9 White Deer Kölsch on draught. What a superbly refreshing drink, a fine reward after a walk on sunny Sheep’s Head.


And breakfast is good, served in an impressive room. There is a hot buffet but here it is regularly refreshed. And you have the usual juices, meats and cheese too, and breads of course. No shortage at all. The long low rise hotel ais  few steps from the main square, has its own underground car park and that, with a lift up to reception, is very convenient. Recommended.

Brendan the Navigator


It is also very convenient as a base for touring. We didn’t have all that much time on this occasion and our main trip was to the fabulous Sheep’s Head Peninsula and that walk on the Goat’s Path. But Mizen and Beara are also within easy reach and you can head for Kerry via the spectacular Healy Pass.

Corner of the breakfast room


After our Friday breakfast, we headed uphill to a place called Vaughan’s Pass though I think the locals call it Sheskin and you’ll also see Dromleigh Heights on signs. Turn up High Street and look out for the signs (you do go past the local hospital). A good Sat-Nav or this Google Maps link should get you there. You will see some large communication aerials on the top as you approach and there is a car park.



It is well worth making this trip, particularly on a clear day as you will see spectacular views of the Bantry area, the harbour including Whiddy Island and right across to Glengarriff. Very Highly Recommended,


We took our time there for a while before heading back down to the town and the fantastic Friday morning market, held in the impressive Wolfe Tone Square where statues of St Brendan and Wolfe Tone himself stand. 




Aside from the food, you can buy carpets and other household items, lots of bric-a-brac and certainly lots and lots of tools. I think there were at least three stalls selling hand tools there on that Friday and they seemed popular. This being Bantry, you will also find a stall selling fishing gear. Quite a varied market and one that will be getting better as the days get longer. Our main purchase was a box of plants, now happily taking root in the back garden!


On this trip:

The Fish Kitchen 

Garden goodies from the
market's Natural Growing
Company

Donemark West Restaurant

Sheep’s Head Peninsula


Previous Trips:

A Couple of Days in West Cork

Manning’s Emporium. Syrian Food.  An Eagle’s Nest.

Burgundy on the Beach. Room with a View. Magic. 

 

Glengarriff’s Eccles Hotel