The Imperial Hotel & SPA — Restaurant in Cork

I hesitate to write this due to the staff being extremely apologetic and offering coffee/breakfast to compensate, but I feel it’s important to share my true experience. Two months ahead of my stay, I requested a room distant from the elevator, in a quiet area of the hotel. I was told this request was noted in my reservation notes. We arrived prior to check in time and were given room keys, but we were prepared to wait for a room & certainly would’ve waited if it meant our request was met. What we got was the ~3rd room from elevator. Outside the elevator was a door that led to the hallway. There were a few steps down to enter the hallway. This meant we heard elevator foot traffic noise, the hallway door slamming, luggage plopping down the few stairs, and hotel room doors slamming as guests entered/exited their rooms. We expected room doors slamming as all hotel doors slam, but we request rooms far from the elevator to prevent the other noise issues. There was also a loud banging noise all night, occurring every minute or so. It was consistent enough to convince me that it was something within the building itself (knocking pipes, creaking floors, I wasn’t really sure). Also, our room faced a street (Pembroke St.) or a nearby street that played music from 11:30pm until past 1am. To combat all of this, I slept with headphones playing white noise at max volume which helped with the outside street noise, but I could still hear the hotel noise over the audio. Every time I began drifting to sleep, the banging scared me awake. When I managed to fall asleep I was awoken every 2 hours or so. I did not call reception in the middle of the night because again, this was a consistent bang, the same bang every time, so I thought it was something in the building structure or something mechanical. I also try to avoid being a bother to staff, so I suppose that’s on me. This all resulted in the worst night’s sleep during my week in Ireland and a headache in the morning. I was thankful we only stayed one night. Additionally, both our kettle and nespresso water tank had black/brown sludge in them. I requested a new kettle and a clean one was brought. Upon informing the front desk at checkout about the noise, a manager came to apologize. She said there was a problematic guest who was the cause of the noise and that they ruined a lot of people’s night. She apologized that it was out of their control. In my opinion, the problem guest should’ve been removed from the premises, but I suppose I don’t know the specific circumstances to judge that. I wasn’t completely convinced of the unruly guest explanation due to the banging being so consistent in timing and nature, but there was nothing to be done at that point so we just said okay. The manager offered complimentary coffee or breakfast but we couldn’t accept due to needing to catch a train. She then made it seem like she would give us a discount, but when she learned that we paid at checkin, she said never mind and just apologized again, which was odd. All that being said, I would like to give compliments where they’re due. We loved the hotel’s decor, the comfortable beds, and the otherwise cleanliness of the room. The rooms are comfortable and plush and truly make you feel like you’ve stepped into your bedroom at home. Many hotels now are modern and sleek, which can be stark and cold. The Imperial however is very cozy. The livelihood of the street below was pleasant during daylight hours as you could relax in your room with the window open and feel like you were still part of the city. I think the hotel has potential but unfortunately it was just a...

I originally booked a hotel room at the Imperial Hotel in Cork City through booking.com for 26 to 27 June 2025. On 23 June 2025 I contacted booking.com to see if there was availability for 25 to 26 June 2025 as well, because we decided to spend an extra day in Cork City. On 24 June 2025 I received a reply from booking.com advising that there was no availability for the 25th at the Imperial Hotel. Consequently, my husband and I remained at the accommodation we had in Kerry. As we were on our way to Cork on the 26th, I noticed a missed call from the Imperial Hotel. I called back and was advised that they had expected us on the 25th. I went back and forth with the rude front desk person trying to explain to her that the booking for the 25th of June never took place. I finally told her we would sort it out at the hotel. Upon our arrival, Victoria, the rude front desk person, continued to try and convince me that I did indeed have a booking for the 25th. She supposedly sent me an email, which I never received. I asked her why she would even send me an email if I am going through a third party, to which she had no answer. I insisted that I did not have a booking for the 25th and even presented her with an email from booking.com, which clearly showed that no booking was made. I then requested to speak to the manager, Marta. Marta, the Assistant Manager, was not rude like Victoria but also unable or unwilling to settle the issue. She stated that I would need to resolve this with booking.com. She also stated that they don’t deal with booking.com, which is false. First, both Marta and the rude front desk person insisted that they received a booking from booking.com, then they claimed they had nothing to do with them. I told Marta that this was complete nonsense. Half their bookings probably go through a third party. I was pretty much forced to sign for the two nights, even though I did not book the first night. The entire process took over 40 minutes. They were not going to give me my room unless I signed for the total of two nights. It was now about 5 PM in the afternoon and we had been on the road for several hours, so I decided to go ahead and pay the amount and sort it out with booking.com later, since it was impossible to find another room this late in the day. When I received the invoice via email from the hotel, I noticed that they charged me €261 for the night of 25 June (the night I never booked and didn’t spend there and which would be disputed) and €355.50 for the correctly booked night of the 26th, which had previously been confirmed by booking.com at €261. I am totally disgusted by this behavior. Not only did they not have the courtesy to remove the erroneous charge for the 25th, since I could obviously prove that there was no existing booking, but then they also cleverly switched the rates around hoping I wouldn’t notice. This entire experience ruined our stay in Cork. I would have received much better treatment at any Motel 6 or Holiday Inn. We had planned to do some shopping but were no longer in the mood after this unnecessary fiasco. The hotel itself is nothing special and highly overrated. The service in the bar was lousy, so we decided not to even have dinner in the hotel. The rooms were ok, nothing special to report here other than a loud faucet. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone. The front desk person needs to attend some customer service training and possibly “finishing school” before being allowed to continue her job dealing with the public. I am absolutely appalled by...

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I have debated long and hard about posting this review but I feel it's necessary for any couples planning an intimate wedding or celebration here.

We had our wedding in the imperial this November. It was a complete disappointment. We had such faith in the venue in the lead up and were so excited to host our small wedding here . The hotel is absolutely stunning and the decorations were a dream but apart from that unfortunately it does not seem that smaller weddings are given any importance or value .

We couldn't have been made feel less important or special on the day . We were ignored by the coordinator who we had had plenty of communication with prior so were really taken aback by this on the day.

For the drinks reception our guests had no idea where to go as no one was there to show them . The prosecco was horribly presented in wine glasses , the canapes were just left on one table meaning guests didn't have access to them without asking the people sitting at the table if they could have some . We were assured we would have some canapes left aside for us to enjoy together before entering the room with a drink .This never happened. We created a playlist for the drinks reception with songs that were important to us. This was never played. When The meal was ready I was asked to gather up the guests , I have never seen a couple have to coordinate this .

The meal in sketch was an absolute disaster . People waiting for their main courses over 45 minutes while others were on their desserts . I had to chase up some main courses for guests several times . Some guests never even received desserts . It was completely chaotic and we were so embarrassed that our guests weren't properly looked after or fed. Wine was supposed to be poured freely this did not happen .

The following morning we were made to feel a total nuisance at breakfast for wanting to sit with our guests that had stayed in the hotel for the celebration. There was a big error made with the bill which left me standing embarrassed at the reception as they tried to rectify it . One member of reception staff was incredibly rude as they couldn't figure it out . It was evident I was upset with the issues that had occured. I would have really appreciated being brought into a room to have a proper discussion instead of trying to sort it in public at the reception desk. I've staff member Geraldine was incredibly helpful and understanding. To be completely transparent we were given a discount and a gift bag from the spa as a result of the issues highlighted. I acknowledge this but it money was never the problem we would have paid double the cost had we been treated as valued guests/customers . A senior member of management came out to reception and made a watery attempt to talk to me but didn't allow any space for me to explain what had happened . He made a comment about our honeymoon and ran away . An apology was made by the coordinator and reception staff with plenty of excuses but regardless we will never get to have our day again with our most important family and friends . It has left us both embarrassed for the experience our guests had and upset . We would not even consider returning to the hotel in the future as it doesn't hold good...