Imperial Hotel

Overall a nice facility. No coffee machine in my room but a call to the front desk fixed that quickly. Dinner at the restaurant was terrific, if pricy.

Unbelievable service and atmosphere. Damo does everything right and makes the bar what it is. Rodrick and Jack are great bartenders and make the best drinks you’ll get in Ireland.

The hotel is elevated by the cocktail bar inside, all thanks to the bar manager Damo!!

We were upgraded to a Junior Suite, nice room. Large with a safe which you can remove! It wasn’t attached to the wall! Sadly no turn down. Great staff. Lift 3 broke down so it was not easy to find our way to our room and needed help. Next morning it was working. Breakfast was very good, huge continental selection and cooked breakfast to order.
Visited the bar on our first day and it was huge and great selection of drinks. In the evening visited again. Next day we couldn’t get it, tried twice and it was heaving so we gave up.

Best bar ever, Ferris and Damo are the best ever and made the experience 10 out of 10.

Fantastic service, Damo and Feris were especially excellent. Drinks downstairs are perfectly made to order + the atmosphere is beautiful! Nothing but the best of recommendations to here!

damo was amazing the Fitzgerald was the best bar we've been to. Great drinks and great hospitality. Féris is a legend.

Great experience lovely comfortable stay nice treats in the room . Food was amazing . Lovely staff Damo the bar manager was great had a word for everyone and such a great atmosphere . Will definatly return .

We called in for a night cap and Damien greeted us. Sorted out a beautiful seat got the somelia ( hopefully spelled correctly) to
recommend a delicious bottle of bubbles
Damien came and chatted to us made sure we were happy with our choice of bubbles and chatted with us and was absolutely welcoming friendly and great fun. He chatted to everyone and made us feel like we knew him like a friend. One can only say we would call in again and stay for the weekend just to experience Damien’s absolute exceptional welcome and an absolutely experience to pop in for a nightcap. Damien made us feel like old friends. He is an exceptional ambassador for The Imperial Hotel.
Five star review from us to Damien and his team. His impressive performance wit and hilarious personality made our night one to remember. Well done.

We stayed in Cork on our way between hitting the Cliffs of Moher, and on our way to Waterford up to Dublin. Gorgeous Hotel. Only stayed there one night but gorgeous historic fun room with a cool vibe. Dinner and breakfast were wonderful and you’re in a great location. On a sidenote, if you’re driving yourself, parking is a bit dodgy with their recommended parking structure about a mile away and over the canal, but it’s doable. Don’t let that discourage you but just be prepared.

Popped in for a drink with an old friend and we ended up staying for the evening, the service was so good on April 23rd.
I can honestly say the best service we have experienced in Cork, in a long time.
We both remarked upon this.

The bar is gorgeous, spacious, and loo's were spotless.
Well done.

We are from Cork and my daughter said yes to the dress so we were all excited so we said we would go to the imperial hotel for a drink and a bite to eat.We went into the Pembroke restaurant and the waiter said ye look very happy today and we told him our story he sat us down at a table and treated my daughter like a princess and brought down 4 glasses of prosecco we ordered our meal and met Peter Andres .The ambience in the restaurant was fabulous and the food was delicious I couldn't recommend this hotel enough and the staff are amazing well done Imperial Hotel great to have a wonderful hotel in Cork City❤️

We really enjoyed our stay here. Check in was a breeze, room was nice and location is exceptional to walk anywhere. Staff are very pleasant, especially housekeeping and front desk. In one instance, we called for ice, phone was picked up on first ring and ice was at the door a couple of minutes later. Unfortunately, the second time we ordered, phone was picked up first ring but they forgot about it and I had to go down 40 mins later to get it myself. Room is nicely stocked with treats. Did ask for refrigerator to be repaired, but that did not happen. Some aesthetic items that could use repair, such as an ill fitted cover for the tub or loose handle bars to get it in. Overall, enjoyed our week long stay, would return on our next visit to Cork.

Lovely historic hotel in a great location. Excellent restaurant so we had no need to go hunting for a place to eat. Comfortable, attractive, clean rooms. Special place to stay for those with Irish heritage and interest in Irish history. Front desk staff couldn’t be more helpful!

This review is specifically about the bar.

The staff were incredible, my partner and I were dealing with Damien (Damo) the bar manager, he clearly takes a lot of pride and care in his job as shown by his dedication to his hired staff, Ferris was the other staff we had the pleasure of talking to, both men had great humour and wonderful suggestions for where to go in the evening. Delicious drinks and a well deserved sense of pride in their work. I would recommend this spot 11/10

I arrived into Cork train station at 1pm. Checkin wasn't until 3pm but I rang and asked if I could checkin early. The lady at reception said no problem and to come on in.

However 20 minutes, when I arrived at rception, I was told it would cost €20 to checkin early. I wasn't willing to pay what is an unfair, hidden cost so I gave my bag to the concierge to concierge who duly locked it into a room beside reception.

I went and got a cup of tea and 20 minutes later, before I went to explore the city, remembered I left my jumper in the bag. So I went back to the concierge and much to my surprose he told me my bag was in my room.

IN OTHER WORDS, THE ROOM WAS READY ALL ALONG BUT I WASN'T ALLOWED ACCESS IT WITHOUT PAYING €20.

Since I wasnt allowed access ti the room and therefore my bag, I had to insist he go and get it for me.

Key learning: The Imperial hotel is less in the hospitality business and more in the business of creaming as much money as possible from their patrons.

Plenty of friendlier and less stingy options in the city which I will choose next time

We stayed recently for my partner’s birthday we all enjoyed our stay our rooms were so comfortable with everything we needed coffee machine welcome treats welcome card seperate shower and bath all staff so friendly and helpful breakfast was busy organized and service was brilliant and especially to get offered choice of coffee which is brilliant to receive at hotel breakfast special thank you to Peter who looked after friend and family as they arrived early Hotel centrally located which was great for all of us

Hands down a fantastic experience and I do mean experience. From the moment we walked in we were treated totally, or luggage was delivered to our room. We received a complimentary upgrade to our room! Our travel agent must have advised then we are in Ireland to get married and called ahead to the imperial because we had a lovely plate of treats and a handwritten card awaiting us in our room! The dining experience was elevated with each plate a delight to the taste buds. I simply cannot rave enough about this hotel!

Had a fantastic overnight stay here on the 11th of March, we had a classic twin room ideal for an overnight stay. Beautiful hotel from the minute you walk in, I had ordered little cakes and strawberries for the room as a treat for my mam who was recovering from an operation and they were lovely, also a very nice card from management. Breakfast was super had a lovely full Irish fry, nothing is to much for the Imperial hotel. We will book again nearer Christmas to experience the Christmas atmosphere. Thanks again

I have stayed at the imperial hotel several times over the last five years, often enjoying it to the point where, through our word of mouth family & friends have stayed there too. In February 2025 we found our visit disappointing and as such were offered an upgrade to a junior suite. We saw my birthday this year to be a brilliant opportunity for a short, restful getaway to Cork in which we could visit family & friends. Unfortunately, restful is not a word which could be used to describe this stay. Although there were many things we didn’t appreciate (which often represented new/and poor standards), like a knock at the door at 10.57 upon check out (which was due at 11am), listed below are the major issues:
A) check in times at a hotel are typically in consideration of the guest. On this occasion, our room was not ready until 3.45pm (3pm check in)
B) upon arriving in our room, which in fairness was nice (large shower no bath), we quickly found that the shower was burning hot. After a long day of travelling, we were unable to have a shower before going out in the evening.
C) we informed the receptionist of this issue. She was anything but friendly and said the problem would be resolved whilst we were out.
D) upon waking the next morning (my birthday & the penultimate day of our trip), we spent an hour sorting out the shower and having people come to our room to try & fix it. We then rushed off to the spa which had been booked prior to our stay. This was not exactly relaxing.
E) at 2.30pm, our room phone rang to inform us that we would be moving room for the second night of our two night stay.
F) by the time we had moved and were ready to go out to celebrate the occasion it was gone 3 o’clock.

This hassle which spanned all 3 days (the 3rd day due to having to suggest a reduced rate ourselves) and no manager on duty to decide & then later having to have a long winded conversation with the manager at 6pm.

Issues do happen, but being treated with contempt when attempting to resolve them is unacceptable, and is the primary reason as to why we will not be staying there again after 5 years of business.