More about Clarion Hotel Cork
Clarion Hotel, Cork, Ireland
by A TripAdvisor Member
Just a heads up on the Clarion in Cork - I am from Cork and was an exhibitor at a conference there last April. It would be the only modern hotel in Cork city centre and is brand new. Very good facilities and certainly very much directed towards the business traveller. I would recommend that you have patience with the staff as many off them are from Eastern Europe and whilst they try hard to communicate sometimes the command of the english language can be a problem. restaurant very nice and bar comfortable. Calling a taxi from the hotel will incur an extra charge - as easy to wave a taxi down outside the door but city centre within walking distance and well lit. Very good hotel experience.
Loved the Clarion
by A TripAdvisor Member
Like the last reviewer, I too am from Cork and I recently had the pleasure of staying in the Clarion as I was attending a function there.
The Clarion is about a year old and is, at this point, the newest city centre hotel in Cork. The hotel lobby is very modern and the look is in keeping with the rest of the hotel. Some might describe the look as cold but I didn't think it was. I thought the lobby, just like the rest of the hotel, looked great.
The rooms are lovely and roomy enough. I was in a room overlooking the river and I had a lovely view over the city. Being from Cork, I thought that was lovely. I also liked the fact that the Clarion was situated so centrally as this gives the place a real buzz. Again, this may be seen as a disadvantage to some. Buzz or no buzz, my room was secure from noise and I slept like a log.
The Clarion gives you a great location from which to get to know Cork. It's located near some great restaurants and fun pubs. Also, the shopping isn't far away. All in all, a good place to stay.
I found the staff very friendly and accomodating and to be quite honest I really enjoyed my brief stay.
Fabulous hotel
by A TripAdvisor Member
I have just spent a long weekend staying at the Clarion Hotel in Cork and have never been in a nicer hotel. From the moment you walk in you are treated exceptionally well, and the hotel is superb, very modern but still very homely. The standard rooms are actually quite large and although we had a room with an internal view of the hotel rather than of the River Lee it was still lovely to open the curtains every morning! The breakfast included in the rate was superb with a wide choice of hot and cold buffet. The additional hotel facilities are wonderful, with a large swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna and steam room all available for free, along with a gym and various treatments available.
The hotel was lovely to come back to after a days shopping and i wouldn't hesitate to go back again.
Good hotel but could do better in service
by TripAdvisor Member Dubskin
I stayed twice in the space of a week at the Clarion hotel in Cork. It is indeed a modern hotel with four star aspirations. The rooms are large and well furnished (though some are inside towards the light well and should be avoided). My rooms had a balcony which was nice. On closer inspection the hotel has some faults: Already parts of it are fading, carpets are fraying, including in the common areas (halls and the business centre rooms). Cheap photocopied signs are in use in the biz centre which definitely do not work well in such a property (and not after having paid a fortune for a 2 hour meeting room).
Back to the accommodation: Nowhere in the room (and I have looked) did it mention that the internet costs € 10 a stay. So be careful with their high tech in room entertainment centre. The bathroom toiletries are not as luxurious as one would expect and indeed a bathrobe and slippers should be part of kit.
A rather nasty novelty on my second trip was that the hotel insisted that when using a debit card they would deduct the room costs in ADVANCE. I refused (I always pay after I receive the services) and a rather unpleasant row with the staff ensued. Eventually the rather rude staff relented and I paid for the room after my stay (as I had done the week before).
In short: yes the Clarion currently is the best contemporary hotel in Cork (though there is not much competition); maintenance to a high standard is an issue; front desk staff attitudes and procedures should be adjusted to have a CUSTOMER focus.
very disappointing
by TripAdvisor Member echristie
Stayed here twice in 4 weeks. It is very new and contemporary so the rooms are a refreshing change from the norm in Ireland. They are reasonably well designed for modern needs but there's no decent place to put on makeup. Standard rooms face the inner atrium and the "river view rooms" may only give you a tiny glimpse of the river and fantastic view of the bus station, so the extra money was definitely not worth it. The public areas are bare and soulless. The spa was incredible - I have been in better public baths than this, and the changing rooms were dirty and cold. I didn’t use the spa services or gym. The big plus point for this hotel is that it has a car park underneath – as far as I know the only one in Cork – and that is why I rebooked. My main complaint is that they proclaim “service, service”, but the staff were surly and generally couldn’t manage a “good morning” or “thank you for staying with us”. Breakfast reception was more like shopping trolleys being marshaled. Unlike most hotels these days the staff I encountered were Irish. They left their Irish charm at home when they came to work!
Relaxing weekend, good choice
by A TripAdvisor Member
My wife and I stayed for one night. We arrived on an early flight and got to the hotel at 9am. We were well greeted and given a room straight away (no waiting till the official check-in time).
We then had breakfast which had a reasonable selection and was good quality. The service was both polite and attentive. We had breakfast in bed the next morning and this was delivered on-time and had a good variety of quality food.
The room is very clean, reasonable space, nice bathroom, reasonable storage for clothes and has all the usual mod cons for such a rating. The bed was huge and extremely comfortable.
We used the concierge to get information on restaurants and bus times to Blarney. Both times extremely polite and helpful.
We also used the bar once for a pre-dinner drink (we did not eat in the hotel in the evening) and the next day we spent late afternoon there waiting for our flight. The bar is well decorated, the service is good and has a good selection of food and drinks.
We stored our bags for free in the afternoon after check out and had no problems with drop off and collection.
So, in summary, if you want a nice hotel, you're not on a budget (the prices are about what you expect for a hotel of this nature), you want a nice room and consistently good service then this is will be a good safe choice.
original art
by A TripAdvisor Member
I was very impressed with the Clarion hotel in Cork city, which I stayed in recently. The staff were friendly and helpful, the food good and the accomadation very comfortable. It also contained beautiful, original art work, which gave the spa in particular a really relaxing feel. This gave it a personal touch and made a refreshing change.
Great hotel, shame about the service
by A TripAdvisor Member
I largely agree with the other reviews posted. On the whole, a very good four star hotel - rooms refreshingly contemporary, parking a bonus and decent bar and restuarant.
One things that the hotel needs to work on is, with limited exceptions, the dreadful attitude of the staff. They aI had been overcharged when I came to check out and not even an apology. The staff were all fairly young so there was not the polished feel one gets in more established hotels.
All in all, I would return, especially at €130 inlcuding breakfast.
Pricey but impressive
by TripAdvisor Member Tixilix
Just back from Cork. Stayed at Clarion bright, modern hotel. Underground parking no charge which I was impressed with. Walking distance to centre. Service good, two of our party had to return to UK urgently, hotel did not charge for the night they booked but missed and were helpful re flight information.Room: clean, huge bed, nice bathroom, tea and coffee facilities, quiet, spacious, like the jukebox on the television. Used gym good did not use pool.Lovely bar and cocktails. Did not eat in hotel. Considering it is low season I thought we would have been able to get a better deal for our stay but no not even on late rooms, it was quite expensive over a hundred pounds a night no breakfast.
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