This is the first sneak peek inside Cork's newest hotels as the final preparations are made at the Marriott's new Moxy and Residence Inn in the city centre. CorkBeo took a walk through both hotels for the first look inside the €200 million hotel block. The team were busy at work making sure everything is ready to go with a plan to open in the last week of September.
The new hotels are opening at the site of the old Courthouse building on Camden Quay, a corner of Shandon which has long been in need of some regeneration. Both hotels are in one block and are internally connected - but with two receptions, two bars, and two totally different themes, they are separate brands which will attract very different clientele once they start welcoming their first guests in the coming weeks. Cork-based architects Meitheal are working with Limerick-based Conack Construction on the final stages of what is the first Marriott-branded hotel for Cork city , operated by the UK-HQ'd JMK Group.
The same group are behind plans for another hotel on South Terrace, behind the historic facade of three, currently vacant Georgian terraced houses The Moxy and Residence Inn are both beautiful. The facade of the former McKenzies Building, which had been in use as a Circuit Courthouse and then a community arts centre, has been retained but the property has been extended back at Pine Street with a modern brick and glass structure. The Moxy is a fun, colourful offering of 153 rooms ranging from simple twin be.