Hotel chief leaves behind perfect family home

GENERAL manager of Cork’s Clarion Hotel, Charlie Sheil, is taking the top post as GM of the new Gibson Hotel at the Point Village in Dublin this month, ahead of its scheduled June opening.

And Sheil is not only leaving a job, but also a house and home at Kilbrody, Mount Oval Village, in Rochestown, Cork.

“We’ve had four great years here and it’s a very nice quiet area — very near the school and it’s got a big green — it’s the perfect place for bringing up the family,” he says.

Charlie’s two young boys, aged four and aged six, have had a mixed reaction to the move: one will miss his friends and school mates, he says, while the four-year-old is relishing a new school and new friends.

“We’ll miss Cork and the longer we’ve lived here the harder it’s been to get up and go — we came to Cork from New York and didn’t get to think about leaving New York until six months after we came. It will always have a special place for us.”

Sheil, who took on the Clarion job in a start-up situation, has worked in a number of five-star hotels in Britain, Europe and the US.

He moved to Cork from the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and Towers NY and has won Hotel Manager of the Year, Cork Business of the Year and International Clarion Hotel of the Year during his tenure on Lapp’s Quay.

His house at 77 Kilbrody, Mount Oval Village, is being sold by Finbarr Roche of ERA Downey McCarthy and it’s an end of row, four-bed semi in superb condition.

Its position makes it very private, says Sheil, and there isn’t another house at one side, which gives it an edge.

It’s also in a cul-de-sac with a green, so it’s very safe for playing children and was bought new four years ago.

The guide price of €398,000 is similar to that when purchased so while Sheil will leave Cork with a lot of achievements under his belt, capital appreciation isn’t going to be one of them.

The family-friendly house has a rather grand sitting room, a big, well-fitted kitchen/ diner, a playroom, utility and guest WC, with four bedrooms overhead, including main bathroom and en suite master.

The back garden is also very long and perfect for swings and slides.