Hotels near Ballybeg Priory, Cork

My sister and I stayed here for three nights recently. First impressions, the hotel is old fashioned but certainly not run down. It is spotless. Our room was small but comfortable and the beds and pillows were soooo nice to sleep on. Food was excellent and reasonable. Staff were so polite and friendly. Robert the bar manager was so helpful and funny. Donna from room service was so lovely to talk to and gave us the history of the hotel and also told us about the nearby castle and the white deer that live on the grounds. Mallow town is lovely . The castle , nearby park, playground and the shops are all within walking distance. The train into Cork city goes every 30 minutes and again is within walking distance from the hotel. The Guinness was the best I’ve ever had and the ceaser salad. I could go on and on because the fish and chips were also amazing. I’ve been to many hotels over the years this is by far my favourite.we shall be back.

This could be a great hotel stay but not in summer. The rooms are cooled by 2 tiny windows and small desk fan. The bathrooms don’t even have fans to vent the rooms. On a 75 degree F day in Blarney and windows facing the sun all day long, the room must have been 90 degrees when we checked in. Now at 8:30 PM it is still unbearably hot. We have the door propped open with a pillow and the chain to keep out uninvited guests. We are hoping for some cross ventilation from the hot hallway but this is unlikely because the windows at the stairwell don’t seem to open at all. Staff’s reaction to my question about lack of any AC was “it is a 100 year old hotel”. Well, the mill store connecting to it has AC as does the pub and restaurant they are in former mills also 100 years old. The hotel has location, convenience, cleanliness, etc. going for it — but we are literally roasting in our rooms.

We had a fabulous weekend celebrating a family wedding. Food excellent and staff very friendly. One member of staff who really stood out for us was Don the Night porter . Such a gentleman who was most friendly, helpful and funny . He really made our stay extra enjoyable and would most definitely make you want to revisit.

I was cautious when booking as recent reviews were so bad. However, I took a chance as it was for one night and the location was perfect for me. I had a good experience with this hotel. All the staff I interacted with were friendly and helpful, day and night staff. Great location with cafés, restaurants and entertainment in walking distance. I had a good size room with a large bathroom (with a bath). The decor is dated, but bedroom was spotless, the bed was clean and comfy and felt very safe as the door had a double lock. The bathroom a little ”scruffy”, but no mould or insects and yes, you could hear my ”neighbours” up chatting late in the night. Overall a pleasant experience.

Hotel Issacs Cork City has a good center city location, close to the main sites tourists would like to see and not too far from the bus and train stations. When we were there recently, our room was very spacious, especially by European standards. There were 2 drawbacks to the property I feel visitors should be aware of, however. The first is the parking situation. The hotel has no parking of its own, but rather allows you to park in a church lot that is isn’t particularly close, for a fee. The issue is if you have even the slightest mobility issue, it will be rigorous to get your luggage to the hotel. It’s easily .3 -.4 of a mile away and you have to descend a steep incline and get the luggage down several steps to reach the hotel. Then you have to reverse the process when you leave the hotel. You are entirely on your own to handle this. There is no one on staff to assist you. When you want to enter the parking area to drop or retrieve your car or any forgotten belonging, the gate which guards the parking area is locked and you have to call the hotel to have the gate unlocked remotely. It’s a pain and especially so when the staff is unavailable to answer the phone quickly and open the gate. Right now the road in front of the property is all torn up for repairs, so possibly the situation will Improve when those are done, but that is the permanently designated parking area and there is no ‘set down’ space to leave luggage and go park. It’s enough to make us never under any circumstances return. Additionally, our 3rd floor room was not air conditioned and the sun came in at such an angle that it heated up the room until dark, which was late due to the long daylight hours. The day was only about 65 degrees F, but the room temp was 80+ and never cooled down enough to sleep well. If you visit in the summer, be aware that you will be cooked on the 3rd floor. There was only 1 available room we could have moved into and it was air conditioned, but only had a double bed, which wouldn’t work for us. All in all, we wish we’d stayed elsewhere.

Very good location. Small but have everything you need. I stay one day and it’s fine for me.

I am in love with their bed!! It’s the best I’ve ever slept on. So in love, I had to investigate to find out who makes their bed: it’s by the natural sleep company. I slept deliciously and I will now get a bed like that for my home. The employees were quite kind and helpful too. Clearly, from the bed alone, they invest in quality. It’s a gorgeous building and exquisitely maintained with a magnificent old world charm. I hope this gem lasts for ages and doesn’t succumb to the boring, overly modern, cookie cutter trope a lot of hotels have fallen into. I will return for sure.

The room is clean and tidy

When we arrived, the outside appearance did not bode well, however, once inside we were greeted by a very nice young lady who showed us to our rooms. We both had rooms with stunning views over the falls, very clean, tidy, comfortable and warm. The food was really lovely, although not too great a choice for a veggie, however, John was really friendly and entertaining! There was a young man singing and playing guitar the first evening, he was really good and we joined in! Breakfast in the morning was again a wee bit disappointing for a veggie, great for carnivores though! John's service again was really great, giving out ideas of where to visit etc. Our meal the next evening was also very good and then we had the experience of a lot of older people descending into the pub. What a night!!! The couples were Irish dancing and we were really exhausted just watching them, they never really sat down! We were asked to join in, we would not have been able to keep up with them all! Our relatives went up to bed and we stayed down to watch them, however, we had to call it a day and they were all still going!!! They did not even make a noise when leaving! Breakfast again in the morning was good and John very attentive. The only one ****** we had, was a dog barking in the room next to our relatives room, which did disturb them a wee bit. This was one of our favourite hotels during our stay in Ireland and would definitely stay again.