SÁMAS at the Park Hotel Kenmare in Co. Kerry, Ireland
Julie Register visited this deluxe destination spa in October, 2003 three weeks before before its scheduled opening

SÁMAS

It's mid-October and the construction site is a hub of activity. 70 workers are busy laying tile; installing fibre optic lighting; setting up the Laconium, Tropical Mist Showers, Crushed Ice Fountains, Rock Sauna and Outdoor Vitality Pool; delivering whirlpools for the Couples' Day Suites and custom wood day beds for the Relaxation Rooms; landscaping The Lost Garden of SÁMAS and a thousand other tasks that will result in the opening of the Park Hotel Kenmare's luxurious new spa, SÁMAS, in just three weeks' time. Spa Manager, Claire Logie, and her team are engaged in eight weeks of training with E'SPA, consultants that offer a wonderful aromatherapy-based product / treatment line (one of my favorites!). By November 7 (fingers crossed), this spa will be transformed into a sanctuary of peace and pampering in a beautiful, picture-perfect setting.  

UPDATE 11-27-03: SÁMAS is now open!

The Vision

Property Manager, John Brennan, gave mea tour of the building and talked about the concept for the spa. It was evident that he and his brother, Francis Brennan, the Park Hotel Kenmare's owner, had a clear vision and lovely intent for their new spa. They selected the name with care - SÁMAS (pronounced sa:vas), a Gaelic word meaning Indulgence of the Senses. SÁMAS would be a pampering spa, not a medical spa. SÁMAS would be accessible exclusively to guests of the Park Hotel Kenmare and a very small number (1%) of full-day visitors. Memberships would not be offered to the local community. lifeStyle ProgrAmmes would take full advantage of the abundance of activities of the area (heritage walks, guided hikes, golf lessons, tennis, sightseeing excursions, etc.) and marry them with the pleasures of SÁMAS and the Park Hotel Kenmare. It would be a place for adults to relax and recharge their batteries. While the spa would accept no one under 16 years of age, the hotel would be able to arrange babysitters for younger children.

The features of the building were dictated by the experience John and Francis wanted to offer to their guests. The SÁMAS Experience was designed to provide total self-indulgence over a 3-4 hour period through a "journey of the senses." It would incorporate three elements - heat, holistic treatment and pure relaxation. A typical experience would start with time in the Spa to enjoy the Heat Experience - Rock Sauna, Hamman, Tropical Mist Shower and Ice Fountain in the Male Spa and Laconium, Aroma Steam Room, Tropical Mist Shower and Ice Fountain in the Female Spa. This would be followed by spa treatments. Here, you would schedule time, not specific treatments. Your therapist would consult with you as you receive a foot ritual at the beginning of your time together. You and your therapist would decide which of the 70+ treatments you would like to experience. Your therapist would be qualified to do them all. Here, an hour's treatment would be a full 60 minutes, not 55 or 50, and each treatment would end with a scalp massage. After treatments, you would relax in the glass-walled Male or Female Relaxation Rooms on a day bed made by Joseph Walsh Furniture in Cork from an Olive Ash tree that once graced the site. The lounges would have four-inch cushions, individual reading lamps and headphones to listen to music specially composed for SÁMAS. The ceiling will feature 2x4 glass hanging down back-lit with slowly changing, colored, fibre optic lights - giving the impression of clouds moving across the sky. You could enjoy the co-ed Vitality Pool. As you relax in one of the five massaging areas (body, foot and neck), your eyes would follow the infinity edge of the pool to Kenmare Bay in the distance. Or you could choose to relax in The Lost Garden of SÁMAS. The goal is for your time in the spa to be relaxed and leisurely and for you to enjoy pure and simple pleasure. You would emerge revived in body, mind and soul. You would take away the ability to appreciate a moment of calm and personal space in your everyday life. "For a free mind is a peaceful soul."

The Facility

Once John and Francis decided on the path they wanted to follow, they selected a lovely wooded site on a knoll next to the hotel with inspirational views of the Kenmare Bay and hills of the Beara Peninsula beyond. Five million Euros were budgeted to create the 10,500 square foot spa. Dublin architects Oppermann Associates designed a building that blended with its surroundings - grass roof, stone walls using rock from the excavation (2,300 m of rock was removed before construction could start) and glass walls opening on to woods, pastures and bay. From the hotel, guests would enter SÁMAS from the lower level where there will be an Exercise Studio with cardiovascular and strength equipment overlooking an indoor reflecting pool. A water wall will flank the stairs to the upper level and the Reception Area. This level will hold the Beauty Suite with manicure and pedicure thrones, a glass-walled Tai-Chi Pavilion, separate Male and Female Spas with Heat Experiences, separate Male and Female Relaxation Rooms and the Outdoor Vitality Pool. Six Treatment Suites will be located on the lower level - four are identical, multi-purpose suites and two are larger Couples Day Suites. Each treatment suite is built to recording studio standards (<.2db) for noise control and features recessed, indirect, fibre optic, colored lighting, heated floors, indoor shower gardens and individual room control of temperature and music. The Couples Day Suites will be available on a half and full day basis. Each Suite, Skellig and Blasket, will be fully self-contained and accessible from the hotel without going through public areas. Each Couples Day Suite will have a changing area, en-suite facilities, Double Treatment Beds, Double Relaxation Beds, Private Garden and Outdoor Whirlpool. Outdoors is The Lost Garden of SÁMAS to be used for reading, meditation and tai chi.

lifeStyle ProgrAmmes

lifeStyle ProgrAmmes are 3, 5 or 7-day getaways that combine the world-class Park Hotel Kenmare, the rejuvenation of SÁMAS, Morning Serenity (Tai-Chi, Yoga, Meditation, Walk in the Tai-Chi Pavilion or Lost Garden of SÁMAS) and activities that allow you to experience one of Ireland’s most beautiful locations (Guided Hike on The Kerry Way, Flora/Fauna/Heritage Walk of Kenmare, 18 Holes of Golf on Kenmare Course, One-Hour Golf Lesson, Freshwater or Game Fishing, Two-Hour Horse Trek, Pleasure Boat Trip of Kenmare Bay).  
     The 3-Day program includes: Unlimited use of SÁMAS, Participation in Morning Serenity, 2 Hours Treatment Time, Choice of 1 Activity, and Dinner on 2 Evenings. 
     The 5-Day program includes: Unlimited use of SÁMAS, Participation in Morning Serenity, 4 Hours Treatment Time, Choice of 2 Activities, and Dinner on 3 Evenings.
     The 7-Day program includes: Unlimited use of SÁMAS, Participation in Morning Serenity, 6 Hours Treatment Time, Choice of 3 Activities, and Dinner on 4 Evenings.

The following is a sample of a 3-Day Program:

Day 1:

Arrive at leisure  
Express check in to pre-assigned rooms  
Welcome Gift of Skellig Chocolates  
Cocktail Reception on The Terrace accompanied by Traditional Music.  
“Cook Out in the Woods”  
Bonfires and Open Cooking in Reenagos Park
Followed by Nearest to The Pin “Glow at Night” Golf Competition.  

Day 2:

Walk with Kenmare Walking Club on the Old Road with Hot Whiskey or Champaign Summer  at Windy Gap.  
Lunch in Kenmare or Picnic at Galway’s Bridge  
or  
Golf Competition on one of the many championship courses with lunch in the Clubhouse.  
or  
Vintage Car Tour of the Ring of Beara with visit to Derreen Gardens  
“The History of Irish Whiskey”  
Whiskey tasting in the Garden Room  
Followed by Talk on the History of Kenmare and the Park Hotel Kenmare  
“The Magnificent Seven ”  
Sample the delights of contemporary cuisine in seven of Kenmare’s finest restaurants.  Pre-arranged reservations with entertainment afterwards in Thady Quill’s Bar.  

Day 3:

Surrender to SÁMAS  
Indigenous Cheeses of the Region Tasting  
Celtic Tenors Concert in St Patrick’s Church  
Torch lined avenue walk back to Hotel for Gala Evening  
Dancing in the Drawing Room  

Day 4:

Farewell Breakfast

The restaurant at the Park Hotel Kenmare will be introducing lighter fare (lower fat and colories) when SÁMAS opens.

Park Hotel Kenmare

The award-winning, five-star Park Hotel Kenmare has been a favorite destination since 1897. The hotel is located in the scenic countryside in a beautiful location overlooking Kenmare Bay. Due to a mild microclimate, New Zealand ferns, palm trees, fuchsias and rhododendrons lushly grow everywhere. 

John and Francis Brennan and their professional and friendly staff make their "resident guests" feel right at home. 46 spacious guests rooms are individuallyfurnished with unique and personally selected antiques. There is also a wonderful restaurant, a cozy sitting room, lounge and bar. What you won't find are meeting rooms, large groups or conferences. The Park Hotel Kenmare serves the individual traveler. 

The hotel's 12-acre grounds offer tennis, croquet and garden walks along the shore of the bay and into the adjacent 48-acre national park. The adjoining 18-hole Kenmare Golf Club provides a challenging par 71 parkland course. The area also has many Championship Links Golf Courses within a short drive. Horse riding, biking, sea and game angling, walks, mountain hikes and the famous coastal drives (Ring of Kerry, Dingle Peninsula, Beara Peninsula) are some of the activities offered. The Heritage Town of Kenmare (twice voted Ireland's Tidiest Town - a prestigious national award) is at the end of the hotel's long, tree-lined driveway. There you will find charming homes and shops offering unique local crafts of jewelry, pottery, knitwear, weaving, musical instruments and the world-famous Kenmare Lace which you can still see being made today. You can learn about the history of the area at the Heritage Centre (Kenmare was a planned community created in the 1700s). There are many excellent restaurants and pubs. You'll even find a stone circle!

The Park Hotel Kenmare is open mid-February to the end of November, 10 days over Christmas and two weeks in February over Valentines Day.

Information and Photos

Contact SÁMAS at the Park Hotel Kenmare • Address: Kenmare, Co. Kerry, Ireland • Phone: +353 64 41200   • Fax: +353 64 41402 • E-mail: info@parkkenmare.com • SÁMAS Web Site • Park Hotel Kenmare Web Site FYI • The SÁMAS experience is designed to offer guests total self-indulgence over 3-4 hours. • The SÁMAS experience has three elements: heat, holistic treatment and pure relaxation. • While The SÁMAS experience is designed for hotel guests. Day visitors may schedule full-day packages.	More Spas in Ireland • SÁMAS at the Park Hotel, Kenmare • Sheen Falls Lodge • Galway Bay Health Farm Spa & Relaxation Centre • One Spirit Spa at the Radisson SAS in Galway • Delphi Mountain Resort & Spa • Dromoland Castle • More Day Spas, Health Farms, Destination, Resort & Hotel Spas in Ireland Related Resources • Fáilte Ireland - the National Tourism Development Authority • Health Farms of Ireland • Ciarán Ganter Chauffeur Drive (First Class chauffeur/guide; Complete personalised itinerary; Specialist and Dream/Theme Programmes, i.e., Spas, Equestrian, Golf, Dining, Conference, Incentive and others; General Touring)
Hotel Reception Sitting Room View from Guest Room #224 Kenmare Golf Course Views from Reenagross National Park	The Streets of Kenmare are lined with charming, colorful shops Heritage Centre Tourist Office Kenmare Lace Kenmare Stone Circle Rhododendrons Grow Wild and Form Leafy Tunnels on the 48-Acre Reenagross National Park
Eyewitness Travel Guide to Ireland	The Mystery of Amergin Phil Coulter Lake of Shadows

Photos copyright 2003, Julie Register
unless marked * which are courtesy of Park Hotel Kenmare

Hotel Review
Kenmare