PRESS
October 29, 2008
Dungarvan Observer
ARDMORE'S CLIFF HOUSE HOTEL HIGHLY COMMENDED
In a boost for tourism in the south-east, the stylishly redesigned and redeveloped Cliff House Hotel at Ardmore, Co. Waterford has been Highly Commended by the Institute of Designers in Ireland at a major awards ceremony held in Dublin.
The interior designs of the hotel were created by a top designer, Garry Cohn who works for Douglas Wallace - an Irish firm of architects, designers and project managers. The hotel is located directly on the beautiful Waterford-Cork coastline.
The Cliff House is a stylish hideaway offering a unique, 21st-century take on the intimate sea-side hotel of yesteryear. Nestled into the side of the cliffs at Ardmore, the new hotel provides stunning views out to sea, with superb décor and excellent cuisine.
Cohn’s cleverly designed interiors of the Cliff House Hotel draw the landscape inwards, using natural materials and warm and inviting furnishings which create an extremely relaxing and luxurious environment. A palette of deep marine blue, fuchsia, aubergine and sea green instantly evoke the surrounding coastline and countryside.
The interior design and fit out of the Cliff House combines sophisticated details and natural materials along with warm and inviting furnishings. With its imposing granite stone façade, the entrance to the hotel, also designed by Garry Cohn for Douglas Wallace, acts as a gateway to the breathtaking vista of Ardmore Bay, rolling out to the Irish Sea.
For Gary Cohn, the Cliff House was an inspiring project: “Designing a hotel is as complex a task as any designer can have because you have to imagine how the visitor will feel as they inhabit the space that you will create for them. With the Cliff House Hotel, what we wanted to achieve was to constantly ‘bring back memories’ for the guest, long after they have returned home.
Guests want to ‘escape to a real place’ where they feel an authentic and uncontrived experience.”
He adds: “It’s about the comfort and cosiness of being there. A combination of physical elements and the personal experiences of the overall ambience combined to such an extent that guests don’t have to realise consciously that they are having an enjoyable time. However, they should feel it afterwards, having been uplifted by the entire experience.”
The judges agreed and the interior designs of the Cliff House Hotel were Highly Commended in the design industry’s equivalent of the Oscars.