All that jazz and a pre-festival opening for Cork’s newest Moxy Hotel

The old Camden Palace, a protected structure with an attractive Venetian-style façade, has been incorporated into the scheme with decorative elements restored. Four river-facing balconies, taken down while construction work was underway, have now been reinstated. Care was taken too to include salvaged material from the original building in the main reception and bar areas, as well as other parts of the building such as the gym (24-hr, shared between both hotels) and meeting room. In the Moxy lounge/foyer, known as “The Now”, columns and timber from the old building make a striking art installation. 

As Camden Palace was a temporary home for an artists’ collective prior to its re-development, their legacy is picked up in some terrific pieces of graffiti, done by Kieran Gorman, Liverpool’s answer to Banksy, and by local artist and organiser of the annual Cork Graffiti Jam, Paul Gleeson.

The interior décor of both hotels is bedded in the Irish countryside, with lots of earthy colours and nods to Donegal Tweed, woolly sheep, farming, local gastronomy, Irish pottery — essentially Irish country living. The Moxy has a more playful look, with lots of exposed brick, reclaimed timber, and what general manager Roger Russell describes as “a nod to Cork”. Here you will find lots of depictions of phrases native to the Rebel City and lots of little reminders of local heroes.

“The Moxy does that at some of its locations. For instance, in Edinburgh, there are nods to the late Sean Connery (James Bond) who was born there, and in Slough, in the UK, there are nods to Thunderbirds, as it was filmed near there,” Mr Russell said.

The hotels, developed by the UK-based JMK hospitality group, which is headed up by Irish-Pakistani businessman John Kajani, were built on the half acre site by Limerick-based Conack Construction Ltd, with project management by Irish firm Virtus. The main design consultants on the 22-month project included Meitheal Architects, with conservation architects John Cronin & Associates supervising conservation work.

Aideen Flynn, the hotels’ sales and marketing manager, said bookings were already coming in, with activity picking up into the Jazz weekend, which runs from October 24 to October 28. Room rates at the Moxy start at €179 (room only) and at €209 in the Residence Inn, where a Continental breakfast is included. Breakfast is buffet style, in the lounge/bar areas. Moxy Plus rooms have a river view, through the building’s gorgeous arched windows.

While the Moxy is designed for short-stay fun-seekers (complimentary Moxy cocktail ahead of check-in,) with culture manager Dominic Lynch flown in from the UK to brief staff on brand values, the Residence Inn caters for longer stays and rooms include suites with kitchenettes or one-bed apartments (separate bedroom/living area). Clients of the Residence Inn can avail of a grocery service, delivered to their rooms, if they want to ‘home-cook’. There are “ironing rooms” in the hotel too with images of male models showcasing how it’s done, as well as launderette services for customers’ use. Customers will also be able to chromecast their favourite TV shows onto their 50” and 55” TVs.

Mr Russell said the “target date” for opening — barring any major hiccups — is September 24.

The arrival of the Moxy and Residence Inn to Cork city follows hot on the heels of the opening of the city’s first Premier Inn, by the UK Whitbred group, earlier this year, on Morrison’s Quay. The 187-bedroom hotel, built at a cost of €30m, transformed the rundown riverfront site which was once home to Moore’s Hotel. The Whitbred group will shortly lodge a planning application for a second Premier Inn in the city at the site of the Leisureplex entertainment complex (previously the Coliseum cinema) in regenerated MacCurtain Street.

Hotelier Shay Livingstone, who once ran Rochestown Park Hotel, is also planning a 58-bedroom boutique hotel at 71 South Mall, while the ever-improving Montenotte Hotel, near St Lukes Cross, recently unveiled its €7.5m Woodland Suite Experience.

Over on South Terrace, the JMK group has plans for an Adagio aparthotel. For now though, the focus is on their Camden Quay development. The original Camden Palace has come a long way, after being through a series of ownerships. A company called Oyster Developments bought the site in 2005 for €12.2m; in 2014 it was sold for €750,000 to Stone Work Properties who had plans for an office development and in 2020, it was bought for €3.5m by the JMK group. It’s now home to two internationally recognised hotel brands, bringing the number of hotels in Cork close to the 100 mark.