The Cliff House Hotel has been in existence since the early 1930’s and was a family run hotel up until its rebuilding and re-opening in 2008 under its present owners. The Hotel was originally a private house. It was acquired by a Mr Kelly, who was a teacher from Connemara. He and his wife (a sister of the Fear Mor, the Head of The Irish College at Ring near Dungarvan) saw an opportunity to take advantage of the beginnings of a tourist trade and started the Hotel business on the premises around 1900.

The hotel was originally called Kelly’s Hotel. Mrs Kelly was Frank Nugent’s aunt. Frank Nugent came to Ardmore on 21st June 1936, and took over the Hotel from his aunt. It was he who changed the name to The Cliff House Hotel.


Dining at the House Restaurant
Ireland's only One Star Michelin Hotel Restaurant - "You can't put it in a box", as Martijn Kajuiter puts it. Whether you enjoy our Head Chef's delicious mix of Irish cuisine and international expertise in The House Restaurant or 18-seater private dining room, he believes the food will speak for itself. Kajuiter's kitchen and restaurant is acclaimed by guests and destination diners from Waterford and all over Ireland, and it uses only the finest of local ingredients. "I want to work with seasonal products from the Irish soil and sea," he says. "Why? Because it's an Irish hotel!"