Having a birthday on the Saturday of a holiday weekend during the summer means there is always extra impetus for celebrating and I’m glad to report this year was no different. After a glass or two of Champagne and a nice home cooked Cannelloni we headed to The Cliff House Hotel in Ardmore for drinks.

Opened at the start of 2008 it is a 39 room, boutique style, hotel built into the cliff overlooking Ardmore Bay. The difficult €16m build took over two years and while it may be more a triumph of engineering over some of the external aesthetics this is soon forgotten when you enter reception. Stunning views, plush carpet and glass frontage abound.

Leaving reception the bar and restaurant are down a level on opposite sides of the large spiral staircase. Turning left into the bar you are greeted by a long, narrow, space further divided by three supporting columns which are decorated with slate, the stone theme is common throughout the hotel with some very impressive limestone paving (with fossils) outside reception and on the terrace. The bar area is not large but this adds to the intimacy. Outside is the large terrace providing commanding views of the bay, beach and surrounding landscape. Sitting here you could almost be on the deck of a luxury cruise ship and with the bonus of a sunny day you could well be cruising the Amalfi coast. One thing that did strike me was, apart from a row of tables along the bar window, there is no shelter or outdoor heating. Leaving the imaginary cruise ships and Amalfi coast behind the harsh reality of Irish summers means most of the terrace is a space that can only be used for about 15% of the year, and even then is decidedly cool after sun down. To the delight of the staff the guests tend to play musical chairs trying to avoid the wind and stay in the sun, it was not uncommon to see a staff member with drinks on tray scanning the decks to see where his drinkers were huddling.

This weekend was my third visit and it was nice to note some of the minor niggles present on the earlier visits, such as lack of coasters for the drinks, had been ironed out. However the bathrooms remain slightly below par. The bar of soap sitting on the counter without a holder had been replaced with a tidier bottle of liquid soap but the room could be cleaner, the bin was full of used hand towels and the urinals could have done with a wipe. Unfortunately there was no cleaning rota on the wall so I don’t know what the intervals were or when they were last done, maybe I hit at a bad time. The complaint was the same for the ladies, coat holders were missing or had fallen off and an undisguised tissue box lay stuck to the granite surface. These are niggles that I’m sure will be ironed out over time.

The staff were cheery and bright. During the drinks a suited manager stopped by to have a quick chat and to make sure all was well, his manner was friendly without being forward which is perfect. The mojitos were excellent at €10 each, plenty of sparkle and zing to them. Continuing with the Cuban theme a Havana Club and Coke cost €7.50 and was served in a decent size glass with loads of ice. Cocktail stirrers were also an addition over the previous visit. After we settled the bill the bar tender called me over to ask what I thought of his mojitos, excellent I told him and he informed me he had just come from a post on the Queen Mary (I htink he said the QM) and wanted to make sure his drinks were suiting the Irish palette, maybe he had heard I was disappointed by the drinks in The Tannery. Regardless, it was nice to chat with him and nice of him to ask. I’m looking forward to going back, the bar menu looked very inviting with prices you see on most Irish restaurant windows, hopefully we’ll have time to eat on the next visit.

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Cliff House Hotel, Rating=4, Review