Clarence Hotel facts for kids
| The Clarence Hotel | |
Quick facts for kids [[Image: |200px|The Clarence Hotel ]] |
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| Hotel facts and statistics | |
|---|---|
| Location | Dublin, Ireland |
| Coordinates | 53°20′43″N 6°16′00″W / 53.345263°N 6.266782°W |
| Address | |
| Management | Press Up |
| Owner | Bono, The Edge, Paddy McKillen and Derek Quinlan |
| No. of restaurants | 3 — Cleaver East, The Study and the Octagon Bar |
| No. of rooms | 45 |
| of which suites | 4 |
| No. of floors | 7 |
The Clarence Hotel is a cool four-star hotel in Dublin, Ireland. It has 51 rooms and is located right by the River Liffey in the lively Temple Bar area. This historic building first opened its doors in 1852.
In 1992, two famous members of the band U2, Bono and The Edge, bought the hotel. They worked with business partners to give it a big makeover. After a lot of work, the hotel reopened in 1996, becoming a modern and stylish place to stay.
Discover The Clarence Hotel's Story
In 1992, Bono and The Edge, U2's lead singer and guitarist, bought The Clarence Hotel. It was a smaller, two-star hotel with 70 rooms back then. They decided to transform it into a "boutique" hotel. This means it became a unique, stylish hotel with fewer rooms, focusing on a special experience.
The renovation took about 18 months and cost around US$8 million. This big project was partly helped by a special tax plan. This plan aimed to help bring new life to the Temple Bar area. The hotel officially reopened in 1996, looking completely new and modern.
Today, Bono, The Edge, and developer Paddy McKillen snr own the hotel building. However, a company called Press Up Entertainment manages how the hotel runs each day. This company is owned by Paddy McKillen jnr and Matt Ryan. The hotel's main restaurant, Cleaver East, opened in July 2013. It replaced an older restaurant called The Tea Rooms.
What Were The Future Plans?
In 2004, there were big plans to make the hotel even larger. The idea was to connect The Clarence with several nearby buildings. These plans would have involved taking out the insides of the old buildings, but keeping their historic fronts. Everything else would have been brand new.
This huge project was expected to cost a lot of money, around US$237.2 million. Some groups, like An Taisce, which works to protect historic places, were against the idea. They worried about changing the old buildings too much. However, some city groups supported the expansion.
The plans were approved in 2008 by An Bord Pleanála, which is Ireland's planning appeals agency. But, these plans were never carried out. The approval for the project expired in 2013, so the expansion did not happen. Even though the hotel faced some tough times around 2011, it started doing well again.
The Clarence in Media
The Clarence Hotel has even appeared on TV! In September 2000, something exciting happened on the hotel's rooftop. The famous band U2 filmed a live performance of their song "Beautiful Day" there. This was for a popular BBC music show called Top of the Pops.
You can even find this rooftop performance on the extra features of U2's Elevation 2001: Live from Boston DVD. It's a cool way to see the hotel and the band in action!
