Prices from €540 a night at a new luxury hotel in east Cork

Hotel SectorA new luxury-style hotel will open this August on the scenic Castlemartyr estate in east Cork.

The former Carmelite college at Castlemartyr has been completely refurbished and extended to transform it into one of the finest hotels in Ireland and, with opening rates of €540 per night, one of the most expensive. It may become the first six-star hotel in Ireland.

The hotel will be a classic country manor, with a house party feel. Set on 220 acres, the 17th century manor house was once owned by the Knights Templar and the third Earl of Cork. It will have 103 suites, including a presidential suite with private elevator.

Owned by John F (Barry) Supple of the building firm, it will also include a Ron Kirby-designed links-style golf course.

The resort hotel will offer luxurious amenities and tailored personal service.

A feature of the hotel will be its Irishness - though it may be run on international or even Asian-style service standards, it will also feel very much like an Irish country house.

Food will be sourced locally and guests will be encouraged to take part in local activities. Entertainment will be provided by Irish singers and dancers and a series of festive events are already planned for this year.

Other welcoming aspects in the hotels will be the two dogs, Earl and Cork, and guests will be encouraged to take them for walks. Boating on the lake will also be available.

It is expected that many guests may use the on-site helipad. Other guests are likely to fly into Cork Airport, 30 minutes away by car.

The target market for the hotel will primarily be Ireland and the United States with sales missions to major European cities, such as London, Rome, and Paris.

The resort will also have 11 mews houses and 41 golf lodges which will be operated by the hotel for reservations and services. Guests in the houses may choose to dine in the clubhouse or the main hotel.

Hotel guests will have their own private livingroom, and personal assistants will be on hand to make arrangements for outings and events. Non-residents will be welcome to use the restaurant, and meetings rooms will be available for small corporate groups.

No hotel can open today without a spa and the Auriga Spa at Castlemartyr will be the first in Ireland to have a chlorine-free pool. Treatments in the 1,486sq m (16,000sq ft) facility will be with products from the Organic Pharmacy in London.

The general manager, Peter Bowling, comes to Castlemartyr from Jumby Bay Hotel in Antigua and the Cotton House in Mustique, where he undertook the full refurbishment of their hotel. Bowling says: "We are looking forward to welcoming people who enjoy quality of life and take time to enjoy it."

Castlemartyr is one of three hotels to be managed by the Capella Group in Ireland: Dunboy Castle at Castletownbere is due to open early next year; and the third will be in Donegal at St Patrick's Golf Links in Carrigart, which is being redesigned by Jack Nicklaus.

The Capella Hotel management company was founded by former president and CEO of Ritz Carlton Group, Horst Schulze, and the first hotel in the group opens in Schloss Velden in Austria next month.

Castlemartyr will be the second opening for the group.

The ethos of the Capella Group is to go beyond the levels of existing service and take it to new heights. Other locations for Capella Hotels include Dusseldorf, Cabos in Mexico, Telluride in Colorado, and Singapore.