Luxury Hotels Atlas / Places / Ireland / Cork / The Metropole Hotel
The Metropole Hotel
Cork, Ireland · Independent · Near Luxury
Cork Jazz Festival started here in 1978, when marketing manager Jim Mountjoy filled the October bank holiday by inventing one, and it outgrew the hotel. The Metropole has stood on MacCurtain Street since 1897, Arthur Hill's house for the Musgraves, with Hadji Bey's Turkish delight shop downstairs after the 1903 exhibition, and with Ella Fitzgerald, Walt Disney, and Charlie Chaplin among the people who slept upstairs. For a long stretch under Jimmy Musgrave, the hotel served no drink.
- Opened 1897
- Neighborhood: Victorian Quarter
- Rooms from 269 sq ft (25 m²)
- Architect: Arthur Hill
About The Metropole Hotel
- A fire brought Arthur Hill back in 1910 and 1911 to rebuild and enlarge the hotel. John Delaney and Company, builders of the 1897 house, did the work again.
- Harutan Batmazian opened Hadji Bey et Cie after the Cork International Exhibition. King Edward VII is said to have taken tea on the roof that year. Gregory Peck and John Steinbeck turn up on the later guest list.
- Jimmy Musgrave ran the house while he was president of the Irish Rugby Football Union, and kept it unlicensed. Douglas Vance managed it from his twenties until 1982. The Musgraves sold in 1977.
- Entry-level rooms start at 269 sq ft (25 m²).
History
The Metropole opened in 1897 on MacCurtain Street, designed by Arthur Hill, built by John Delaney and Company, and commissioned by the Musgrave family. The ground floor began as shops. Hadji Bey et Cie, Harutan Batmazian's Turkish delight counter, arrived after the 1903 exhibition. A fire led Hill to rebuild and extend the hotel in 1910 and 1911. Jimmy Musgrave later kept the house unlicensed. In 1978 marketing manager Jim Mountjoy founded the Cork Jazz Festival to fill the October bank holiday. The Musgraves sold in 1977, and the hotel is now with Trigon Hotels.
The setting
MacCurtain Street, Victorian Quarter, Cork, T23 EEC3, on the north bank of the Lee. This is the Victorian Quarter. St Luke's and Military Hill are the climb above it.
Restaurants and bars
- The Merchant — Restaurant
- The Met Bar — Bar
Experiences
- Sustainable Food x Jura & Alsace Wine Dinner — Five-course dinner on 12 Nov 2026 celebrating sustainable, zero-waste cooking, paired with Jura and Alsace wines, €90pp.
- Jazz & Dine — Three-course meal at The Merchant with guest list entry to The Metropole Jazz Festival Club, €95pp.
- Jazz Dine & Bubbles — Three-course meal at The Merchant with a half bottle of Prosecco and festival club guest list entry, €120pp.
- Jazz Dining Experiences — Lunch with live music or three-course Jazz & Dine menus during the festival, showcasing locally sourced Cork produce.
- The Metropole Jazz Festival Club — Jazz festival club hosted by the hotel during the jazz festival weekend.
Open The Metropole Hotel in the atlas for live weekend rates, photos, and the full folio.
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