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Holidays begin with a bang, and end with a whimper.
Somewhere between disembarkation from the airplane and stepping outside the Arrivals zone with your bags into the wan light of Ireland, the bubble bursts.
The adrenaline dissipates. The excitement that has kept you stoked for the last couple of weeks fizzles out like flotsam. The surreal enjoyment of travel becomes the all-too-real practicality of finding the keys, finding the car, finding the parking ticket. You’re home. Almost.
Then the coup de grace: a stonking parking bill to be paid before the cantilever will open up and let you go. If only someone could arrive to glide you through this transition back to IRL.
And then someone does just that.
That someone is the Cork International Hotel. The CIH does all the things you hope from a good hotel – nice rooms; nice cooking in their New Yorker Bar; friendly and efficient staff – but it’s all the things they do on top of that that makes this such an exceptional place.
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So, there we were, fresh off a red-eye flight from Poznan at the crack of dawn, not a taxi anywhere at this unearthly hour. We had booked their Stay, Park & Fly package and our car was sitting in their carpark, a few minutes drive, but a longer walk with bags, so, we rang them.
Two minutes later, their sleek Mercedes passenger van rolls down the hill to collect us and our bags. We are profuse with our thank yous, and the charming driver simply says: “We’re here to look after you…”
And that’s what they do. If you have to get a red-eye flight out of Cork, they set up a stupid-o’clock Grab & Go buffet breakfast in the lobby, so you can scoff some coffee, juice and croissants and then they drive you down to the airport. They also let you know what Gate you’re looking for (nice thought, but Cork is a VERY small airport), and tell you if are there any delays to your flight.
And the best news? The special rate for parking if you stay in the hotel, costs quite a bit less than Holiday Blue in the airport.
All in all, it’s a service that gets your vacation off to a great start, and which then offers solace after the holiday is over – just when you are feeling kinda’ blue, the nice man in the nice car arrives to collect you and your bags and makes everything feel better.
“We’re here to look after you…” and that’s just what they do. We wouldn’t stay anywheres else.
What a lovely way to end your holiday, sounds like an amazing hotel with fabulous service.