Cork International Airport Hotel

...a child, I'd never visited Cork until this year. The area differs enormously from the West Coast, in that there are more rolling hills, arable farming and very reminiscent of Cornwall or Devon.

On my travels I always like to stay in nice hotels, well at least the best that I can afford, and that usually entails trawling through the various travel booking engines to see which is offering the best deal. I tend to find that the airport ...
...trip I came across the Cork International Airport Hotel. The thing that first grabbed my attention was that it was a newly built hotel, so it would be clean, it overlooked the runway so I could take pictures, it was close enough to the city for the sight-seeing element of my holiday and it was a 4 star, so I could assume good quality and has 150 rooms.

Below is what I found.


LOCATION

The hotel ... more

OVERVIEW

If you are considering a trip to Ireland, one of the most popular areas to visit is around Cork. Although I've been to Ireland almost annually since a child, I'd never visited Cork until this year. The area differs enormously from the West Coast, in that there are more rolling hills, arable farming and very reminiscent of Cornwall or Devon.

On my travels I always like to stay in nice hotels, well at least the best that I can afford, and that usually entails trawling through the various travel booking engines to see which is offering the best deal. I tend to find that the airport hotels are usually slightly cheaper than those in the centre of town, and for me there is the added bonus that I can do a bit of plane spotting and photography as well!!

When booking my recent trip I came across the Cork International Airport Hotel. The thing that first grabbed my attention was that it was a newly built hotel, so it would be clean, it overlooked the runway so I could take pictures, it was close enough to the city for the sight-seeing element of my holiday and it was a 4 star, so I could assume good quality and has 150 rooms.

Below is what I found.

LOCATION

The hotel is located opposite the main airport terminal at Cork Airport. In fact it is easily within walking distance from the Arrivals door, across a car park and cannot be missed because of the huge colourful sign on the hotel roof. However, I didn't arrive into Cork by air, we'd driven from Galway so we actually came into the airport via the road network. Also note that there is a courtesy shuttle that operates from the Terminal.

The hotel is located in the Cork Airport Business Park. As we drove up the road I really had a bad feeling. I'd had a bad experience at the SAS Radisson in Limerick last year, and have felt a bit anxious since then that the hotels I book live up to what is promised, after all the hotel stay is part of my holiday. Anyway, you drive into an area which consists of a series of low rise modern office blocks, it's all very quiet and at the end of a long road a yellow sign indicates the direction of the hotel. There aren't any shops or anything on this business park, and I just couldn't help thinking, it's all TOO business orientated.

How wrong I was.

There is a free car park around the side of the hotel. I will say at this point that Cork Airport is not overly busy, maybe 10 flights early in the morning and the odd one dotted throughout the day, so this is no Heathrow! The airport is about 10 mins drive from the city centre, which itself looks and feels almost identical to Dublin, with a river running through it, very busy, awful road network and too many traffic lights!.

THE HOTEL

WOW, I mean that, WOW. I may have had a worrying feeling after driving through the business park to get to it, but when you walk through the glass doors you are greeted by an amazing hotel.

Now, there are two entrances, I went through the one at the back, i.e where the car park is, and that's on the ground floor. Coming from the airport you walk across the airport car park which is raised and takes you directly into the reception area, but for me, I got in the doors and was confronted with what looked more like an art gallery than a hotel!

Over to the left was a lunar moon landing type of construction, there was a parked old Morris car toward the front, lots of chairs, all different styles, open fires, bits of artwork and a stair case.

You go upstairs to the reception area to check in, alternatively as I said above, coming from the airport you'll walk straight into the check in area.

Check in was swift and painless, the lady at the desk was very friendly and we'd already pre-paid for the 3 night stay and everything was in order. I handed a credit card over which would be used for any ancillary items. We were given our key cards which had a distinctively 1930's aviation feel.

I had booked two rooms and both were given on the 3rd floor which was perfect, I always prefer being higher up, however although one room overlooked the airport and hills, my room overlooked the business park. I requested a room change which was arranged straight away without any problems , so both rooms were on the same floor just down the corridor from each other.

Now, how to do this hotel justice. Firstly, I am quite a reserved/shy person, if I had seen what the hotel was all about before I had booked, I think maybe it would have made me a bit anxious, like would I fit in?. The word I would use is ostentatious as in flamboyant, expressive. The hotel is brand new, spotlessly clean and absolutely like NO other hotel I have ever stayed in, let alone any other airport hotel.

I'll describe it as it happens!!

"Walk to the lifts, they are concealed behind black doors, totally hidden from view. The lift door opens and the mirrors on the back silver panel have pink lit shapes behind them. Look at the lift floor and it sparkles. Get out of the lifts on the third floor and there is modern art pieces in the lobbies, the fire hydrant on the right is an enclosed box with large stylised "F" on it. The corridors all look the same, bright, recessed lighting in the ceiling that is different colour in the lift lobby to the main corridor. Find the hotel room, metal numbers stand out from an orange surround, mirrors are next to each door. Open the door and WOW again!

To the left is the wardrobe unit, complete with storage areas, hanger space and luggage area. Wood laminate floor in the entrance perfectly fitted. Tea and Coffee making facilities, amazing selection, loads of milks, every conceivable type of tea bag, two cups, biscuits, a kettle and a coffee pot complete with ground coffee. To the right is the immaculate bathroom, tasteful colours, grey tiled floor with underfloor heating, large mirror, power shower and good range of soaps, shower gel and shampoo, in large bottles, much larger than in other hotels.

The bathroom is a bit smaller than in the other hotels I've stayed in, but that's not a big issue.

Carry on walking into bedroom and the wood laminate makes way for carpet. There are 2 beds in the room, one double (queen size) and one oversized single, this was the case in both rooms so could easily sleep 3 people if needed. There's a 32 inch LCD TV in the room, with all manner of TV stations, almost 100 of them, mostly foreign but also airport arrivals/departures channels which proved useful. The TV can access the internet, and there's in room movies. The TV has a wireless keyboard for the net access as well. Under the TV is the fridge, mini bar, ice bucket and 4 glasses, 2 wine glasses and 2 tall glasses.

There's a desk and wall-long work space, with chair. Two more light suede chairs sit under the large glass dining table. Notepad and pencil by the phone. It's spotless and comfortable. Rooms have a temperature control panel and air conditioning. Black out curtains are also provided. The windows are about 1" thick so can barely hear any planes"

I hope that reads in a way that reflects just how amazed and impressed I was with my first impressions.

DINING/LOBBY

My amazement didn't stop here. I mean this is an airport hotel, but totally unlike anything I've ever seen before. You can eat at the bar, or in the Pullman restaurant, there is a wine cellar room for 10 people and another smaller bar at the other end of the restaurant. The restaurant is fantastic, especially for me and my aviation interest, as you walk in you are confronted with a mockup of an aircraft interior complete with economy and first class seating. Air route maps are on the walls. The lights look like landing gear. The plane mockup divides the restaurant in two, from the dining area, tables and chairs to the serving/preparation area.

Breakfast was help yourself, cooked, fruit, continental. I also had a carvery lunch on the day I arrived which was a 'help yourself' affair. In the second bar and seating area there are model planes hanging from the ceiling and an airship and concorde model in a glass case all reflecting the airport hotel theme.

But, it's not all planes and airships!

I also ate in the bar a couple of times, and there is all manner of seating in there, all different shapes, styles, heights, colours. There are 2 large screen tv's in there as well. Service was fast, friendly and great portions.

After a bar meal we sat down for a few pints of Guiness and Irish Coffees, but did so in the lobby area of the hotel.

Here there are numerous seating arrangements and every one is unique, the open fire places create a cosy relaxed atmosphere. Look to the ceiling and there is a glitterball, it wasn't spinning but the lights all around subtly change colour. In fact the second night I was there, a coach load of German people arrived and nearly every one had their camera's out photographing the various sculpures/artistic pieces. I joined them and a lady came up and asked if I'd seen the restaurant, she said she used to be a flight attendant and thought it was an amazing place.

Everything in this hotel is unique, the whole place must be a one-off experience and goodness knows how much it cost to build. Even the toilets were amazing!! All the lights changed colour, the taps and sinks were strange shapes and lights came on so the water looked a different colour, the hand dryers were weird, you dipped your hand in rather than holding underneath and they were dry in seconds. More like something you'd find in a nightclub.

CONCLUSION

I could go on and on about this place, everything was so well thought out, and totally unexpected. It's a shame there are no shops nearby for water/sweets etc. but I did see some people walk into the airport convenience store. The hotel was relaxed, and had a real calm feel about it, it was also quite awe-inspiring, we just sat there commenting all the time about how many different things there were, all of the attention to detail etc.

The hotel cost a little over £600 pre-paid through Expedia for 2 rooms, 3 nights including breakfast for 4 people which worked out about £50 each per night. I know that's quite a lot of money, but it was totally worth it. I have absolutely no reservations about recommending this hotel as a great alternative to the usual boring business hotels. I know there were children staying there too but not loads, so I would say it's equally a place for families (as we were) as for business people or those catching a flight the next day.

My only criticisms are that there are no shops nearby, except in the airport and that I couldn't find any tourist information leaflets.

Thanks for reading the review, I just hope I did the hotel some justice! 

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