GEMMA TIPTONvisits the Old Bank House, in Kinsale
I LOVED the Old Bank House hotel in Kinsale, pretty much up to the last minute. It’s a Georgian building with stone steps leading from the street, right in the heart of the west Cork town, and it has a delightful cafe and patisserie at ground level.
Reception itself is up a narrow flight of stairs, which was a little inconvenient, as we were carrying a heavy car tyre – a long story, involving a puncture at Horse and Jockey – although we later discovered a lift we could have used.
“I’ve put the heating on for you,” said the nice girl checking us in, which, while it seemed an odd thing to say, was a cheery thought, as the nights were still pretty chilly when we visited, off season.
The rooms are all different, and decorated in an old-fashioned style that is half country cottage and half luxury town house. From my tour of the hotel website I had seen that, from Sunday to Thursday, bed and breakfast started at €100 per room per night. With prices like that, I thought, I’ll splash out and go for a deluxe room.
It had a view over a backyard, which was unfortunate, as rooms at the front of the hotel look out on Kinsale’s pretty harbour, and give you a sense of the activity going on in this lively and lovely town. The hotel was also very quiet, so I thought it was a little odd not to use the rooms with the best views first. Perhaps they were the junior suites, I thought, which are, naturally, even better and more costly than deluxes.
Lack of a view notwithstanding, pluses in our room included two very comfortable beds, charming furniture, a pillow menu and a wine list, to make up for the lack of a hotel bar. There was also a note telling us what weather to expect the next day.
Minuses were pump- dispenser soap and shower gels, screwed to the walls, which didn’t work properly, and a rather poky bathroom where the window latch had fallen off and was sitting, rusting, on the window sill.
We had been invited out for dinner, so, leaving our tyre behind, we headed off to recover from our puncture trauma, praise the AA to high heaven and enjoy lots of wine.
We got back late, and I slept for a few hours before waking up very cold. Poking around a bit in the darkness, I discovered that, despite the encouraging promise, the heating hadn’t been put on. I remedied this, then went back to a much warmer sleep.
In the light of day we decided that the decor in our room was a little tired but pretty and that the breakfast downstairs in the little cafe was definitely delicious.
Taking our tyre with us, we set off to see if it could be fixed, and to enjoy a stroll round Kinsale.
It was, we concluded, the kind of hotel our mums would love, and we began to discuss how nice it would be to give them a holiday there. “Hotel chains are all very well, but when you get a nice idiosyncratic place like this, it’s a million times better,” my friend said.
So while she waited for the man in the local garage to see if he could do anything with our tyre (he couldn’t) I went back to pay – and was a bit shocked to get a bill for €230. Surely it’s €120, I thought. I asked if the bill was right. “Yes, absolutely,” I was told.
Confusingly, the website says both that prices are “per room per night” and that “rates are based on 2 persons sharing”, so according to the hotel we needed to pay €120 each. (I’m not sure where the extra €10 went.) As we were in a hurry to get on our way I became convinced I hadn’t read the website properly.
Thinking that the hotel was twice the price I had been expecting changed my view of it. The poky bathroom ceased to be charming, and my “deluxe room” with a view over a yard became non-deluxe. Having heating as a luxury – and actually not having it at all – was not good, and the pump dispensers for soap and shower gel were now merely mean. When I told my friend about the revised price we changed our minds and realised that our mums would be dismayed rather than thrilled to stay there.
Back home, I thought about it some more and called to find out who was in the right. It turns out I was. Prices are for the room, and mine had mistakenly been doubled. Back down to €120, I began to think fondly of the hotel again (isn’t it funny how money changes your perceptions?), and when I go back to Kinsale next month for arts week I may well check back in. I might even bring Mum. But I’ll be sure to confirm the price in advance.
WhereOld Bank House, 11 Pearse Street, Kinsale, Co Cork, 021-4774075, www.oldbankhouse kinsale.com.
WhatFour-star town-house hotel in a converted Georgian building.
Rooms15, with three suites. The most expensive, the Collection Suite, has open fires and a jacuzzi.
Best ratesBed, breakfast and dinner costs €60 per person sharing from Sundays to Thursdays this month.
Restaurant and barRestaurant is in the sister Blue Haven Hotel, a few doors down. No bar at Old Bank House, although there is a wine list in the room.
Child-friendlinessNot particularly set up for children.
AccessThe hotel is in an old building without wheelchair access.
AmenitiesCharming cafe with patisserie at ground level. Right in the centre of Kinsale.