Fota station is a bit of a nightmare for access to the hotel - it is on the same grounds as the Wildlife Park, and Fota House, and access is extremelty restricted. Glounthaune is pretty much equidistant, and much easier to get at.

You will have to take taxis if you don't have a car. Since the resort is a good ten minute drive from anywhere including Cork center, if you want to try a different restaurant, it's either a taxi or a rental car. Plus just about all of the sightseeing (Kinsale, Blarney, Waterford, Bantry, etc.) requires a car.

We just finished a four day stay and learned a few (personal) lessons. The hotel was very nice (lovely rooms, friendly staff) but it was a bit out of the way and that made driving everywhere for meals, sightseeing, etc. imperative. If I had to do it again, I would stay at a ressort like this only if I wanted to play golf and use the spa everyday. In other words, for our next holiday we want to be in town (like the Westn Dublin which was fantastic for us, being right in the middle of everything) not out of town. But then, we don't play golf and we're not the spa type (it's too expensive for us to spend 100 Euros per person per day on one treatment).

I will be traveling through Ireland when my sister is there next week and we are going to meet up for a day in Cork. I am glad to hear all good experiences for everyone who has stayed at the Sheraton Fota island and was exceited to book it. My only regret is we have only 1 day there. I hope to add to the great feedback.

I may be coming to Dublin around the 13th of October, and thought of arriving a little earlier in Ireland and staying 2 days. As I’ll be flying into Dublin airport and not renting a car, what would be the simplest public transportation way for me to get to your hotel from Dublin airport, then back to Dublin city centre?

Thanks.

Check Ryanair.com
 

Hey NYC
check out Ryanair http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/, there are flights there from Dublin to Cork from 0.01 cents on Oct 11th and Oct 12th. With txes it comes to 10euro's one way. The other alternatives are the aircoach http://www.aircoach.ie/ which is 12 euro's return from Dublin airport to Cork city or the train which is 70 euro's return from Heuston station to Cork. Enjoy :-)

Thanks very much for the info. I'll look into the alternatives.

Hi guys!

I find the bathrooms at this property simply amazing, You get a "pillow" in the bath and there is a walk in shower that is something else... Actually my 3 year old son would never have a shower (hated his head wet, lol) until we spend a couple of nights there, he found it so much fun I could not talk him out of it!!!

The Spa is great, but they are very restrictive with children, they have just a couple of ours when they are welcome in the swimming-pool...

The restaurant I didn't find that good, I hope it was just the fact that they are just starting...

It's full on thursday night (tomorrow) when I looked earlier in the week on spg.com
Thats disappointing given that I had to make alternative arrangements but I suppose a good sign.
Maximum occupancy on a weeknight.I wonder how common that is in cork?

Great hotel
 

We stayed 4 nights at Sheraton Fota Island in Sept. without a car. A little out of the way, but this is a wonderful hotel I would definately go back to again! As a gold, I'm not sure we really got an upgrade (room 102), but the room was very modern and spacious (for Europe) and the bathroom was amazing! They brought us 2 bottles of water and fruit the first night. The concierges were very helpful (Richard and Sean?) in several ways. Free internet in business center (2 computers and a printer). Wonderful pool area! We didn't try the restaurants, but used room service, which was very good. We took day tours to West Cork and Ring of Kerry. Took a guided tour of Cork then went to Blarney Castle. Blarney Woolen Mills is a great place to shop!! Fota House and Gardens is nice, and Cobh is worth a visit also. Wish we had more time in this beautiful area of Ireland! Weather was nice every day, usually started off cloudy everyday, but we never had rain, high 60's to low70's. I would definately recommend this hotel to anyone!

Great hotel
 

We stayed 4 nights at Sheraton Fota Island in Sept. without a car. A little out of the way, but this is a wonderful hotel I would definately go back to again! As a gold, I'm not sure we really got an upgrade (room 102), but the room was very modern and spacious (for Europe) and the bathroom was amazing! They brought us 2 bottles of water and fruit the first night. The concierges were very helpful (Richard and Sean?) in several ways. Free internet in business center (2 computers and a printer). Wonderful pool area! We didn't try the restaurants, but used room service, which was very good. We took day tours to West Cork and Ring of Kerry. Took a guided tour of Cork then went to Blarney Castle. Blarney Woolen Mills is a great place to shop!! Fota House and Gardens is nice, and Cobh is worth a visit also. Wish we had more time in this beautiful area of Ireland! Weather was nice every day, usually started off cloudy everyday, but we never had rain, high 60's to low70's. I would definately recommend this hotel to anyone!

I eventually stayed there 2 nights ago and it's a thumbs up from me.
The rooms are indeed large compared to Europe.

The athmosphere about the place is just nice.
Having breakfast looking out on that patio is just nice.

Do have a car when going there as you are in the middle of the countryside.
I'm going back at the weekend :)

A little OT, but following our stay at Fota Sheraton, during which we spent a day in Cork city-centre, my wife took a shot of our daughter, which is now featured in a Nikon Advertorial called "1000 Words" in this month's American Photo magazine:

http://www.racheldevine.com/RachelDevineNikon.pdf

Most will recognize the location of this shot :p

I just finished my stay at the hotel and I really enjoyed it. ^

James has been very helpful even before my stay - providing lots of helpful information. The suite I was given was simply amazing. It came with a huge balcony.

Everyone I met on site was so nice and friendly. They have a free wine-tasting on Tue-Fri at Cove Restaurant. They also have a free wi-fi in the lobby.

I had nice breakfast at Fota Restaurant. I was told that my room (corporate rate) included free full breakfast. The swimming pool was very nice.

I guess I shall be back here for the Doo next June.

Thanks James, you da man! :)

Hi. I'm planning a stay in May for a few nights and was wondering if there were any more recent updates? Everything up to this point sounds amazing! We are planning on doing a few trips out of course, but one concern was food/location. Are there any places recommended outside of the hotel that would be a quick drive, or should we plan to drive into Cork City Centre each time we plan to have a meal?

Thanks, and looking forward to hopefully staying!

Really enjoyed Fota, including the pub at the golf course (after an enjoyable round of golf with good guys from IE). You should try several good local spots in Cork, Cobh, Midleton, and even Kinsale. If you want to have a few drinks (which we did), we took train into town (Sean gave us lift to train station), and cab back to Fota. Sean (the concierge) will give you good recommendations... tell him the weatherguy from Canada says hi!