Cork’s most luxurious hotel: ‘People expect Castlemartyr to be 100pc all the time. I agree with them’

As the general manager of the estate he has helped drive a €9m investment and refurbishment plan that has given Castlemartyr a long overdue lease of life – not least by creating Terre at the resort’s old Manor House in 2022.

“I was shocked but I wasn’t surprised. That second Michelin star was always part of the plan. It just came quicker than we could have imagined.

“I mean, we got the first star after being in operation for four or five months and the second within another 10 months.”

When Comerford became general manager of Castlemartyr in 2018, the idea of two Michelin stars, not to mention a multimillion-euro investment plan would have seemed like pipe dreams.

“When the resort was originally developed it was conceived as this amazing six-star resort. But it opened at the worst possible time in the middle of the crash and never achieved those aspirations.”

Now, he jokes, Castlemartyr finally has not just six stars but seven: five for its hotel and two Michelin stars for its restaurant.

And the €9m investment plan – now almost completed – has helped drive revenues too. They have increased by about 50pc per annum compared to what they were before refurbishments began, while employment will have increased by more than a third this summer with 320 staff.

“There isn’t a wall in place that hasn’t either been knocked, recently built or decorated to some extent. We’ve completely repositioned the resort to where it should have been and to where it was originally conceived to be.”

Apart from the creation of Terre, the new 200-seater Canopy Brasserie has been opened, all 100 bedrooms have been refurbished and the reception has been relocated. The golf course has been redeveloped and a driving range has been added.

“We’ve just placed an order for half a million euro worth of golf equipment,” he says.

The investment is all aimed at growing and diversifying the resort’s customer base. It has led to the induction of the hotel into Preferred Hotels Legend Collection alongside some of the most luxurious hotels in the world.

“We have a huge domestic base of customers and clients but we also need to target that international market and we are very active in America at the moment in particular,“ he says.

While the main work is now complete, Comerford says he has no doubt there will be more plans in the future.

“We have moved on to the residences now and are planning to refurbish them this year but for 2025, we have no concrete plans. There is a commitment to continue investing in the product because that is a requirement at this level.”

That kind of mindset has not always been possible at Castlemartyr and, he says, a lack of investment had held it back in the past.

Originally, Castlemartyr – with its castle dating back to 1210 – was developed as a resort by local builder and developer Barry Supple.

Supple, according to Comerford, remains a valued and frequent visitor and even brought along some of the original plans and concepts to help inspire the new investment.

Back in the heady days of the Celtic Tiger, he’d had big ambitions for Castlemartyr and partnered with American high-end resort brand Capella. But it opened just at the worst moment in 2008 – in the teeth of a raging financial crisis.

Capella left within a year and the resort was placed into receivership with the operators of Dromoland Castle appointed to run it. In 2014, it was sold out of Nama to a Chinese investment company.

That proved to be another false start for the resort, said Comerford.

“They operated for another six years with no investment and there was a falling out between the Chinese company and the English management company they had appointed to run the property.”

Comerford had previously worked as the general manager of the hotel and lodges at the Fota Island Resort. He had taken the general manager role at Castlemartyr in 2018, three years before current owners Mayrange took over.

“There was talk of investment at the time from the owners but it didn’t happen. We were like a rudderless ship. Every time we radioed back to shore looking for direction we were told to just keep going in the direction you are pointed, you’re fine.

“They had begun to liquidate their other assets elsewhere so we knew it was coming.”

Covid coincided with the resort “thankfully” being put up for sale by the Chinese firm, he says.

It was the new beginning that Castlemartyr badly needed. Mayrange Hospitality finalised the deal to take over the resort in 2021.

“They had been here at an event in 2011. But because of Covid they kind of bought it online. There were plenty of Zoom calls and walking around with mobile phones to give them a sense of what the building and the product was like. It was only a few months after they bought it that they actually were able to travel to visit the property.”

The core team at Castlemartyr had stuck with the resort all the way through and Comerford was confident the product was of a very high standard and just needed to be let shine.

“But we were really happy that someone was coming in with investment and plans,” he says.

“When Mayrange took over there had been no significant capital investment, apart from maybe a lick of paint here and there and some wallpapering since 2008.”

Mayrange had been established in 2018 by Singapore-based Dr Stanley Quek and Peng Loh to acquire and develop impressive properties in great locations in Ireland.

Other luxury properties in the group include Sheen Falls in Kenmare and Tulfarris Hotel and Golf

“Dr Quek and Mr Loh are very hands-on. We have daily and weekly calls from Singapore and they both were educated in Ireland and have a huge connection with this country. They’ve been very supportive of the team. They’ve delivered on everything they said they would when they came in.”

For the first two years, the calls were all about the colour of the new carpets and the plans for the restaurant and the golf course, he says.

“That was lovely. Now the phone calls are more about making sure that everything is running well and they are making their investment back, which is understandable,” he says.

The feedback has been great. It was never negative but, you know, people could see that there were things that needed to be done

“There’s nine shareholders across the business in total and it is an investment for them and we do have to make a return for them.”

With the €9m investment now almost spent, Comerford says he is relieved to get back to the day job.

“For a while there I was getting caught up speaking to architects and engineers and chasing tradesmen. It’s nice to put the suit on and to walk around in the public areas and interact with the guests. That’s my background: hospitality and looking after the guests, not walking around in boots and a construction hat.”

It is, he says, “nice to get back to what we’re good at and what we like doing”.

“The feedback has been great. It was never negative but, you know, people could see that there were things that needed to be done.

"That’s no longer the case. Now there are no exceptions: the expectation is that everything is 100pc perfect all of the time. And that is as it should be.”