The owner of a Co Limerick castle has denied reports that celebrity newlyweds Kim Kardashian and Kanye West refused to pay their bill after booking the castle as part of the Irish leg of their honeymoon.
American entertainment website Radar Online yesterday reported that the couple failed to pay a bill of some €15,000 at Castle Oliver in Co Limerick.
The couple came to Ireland in May after a lavish wedding at Forte di Belvedere in Florence, Italy.
In the report, an unnamed source claimed the couple had booked into Castle Oliver for five nights but left after only a few hours because of poor mobile reception and because the castle was “too big”.
The report said the newlyweds “made all these requests ahead of their visit, for certain foods, champagnes, thousands in flowers, candelabras everywhere”. Castle staff “brought in everything they requested, and there were dozens of items. But then they took back all the money they had paid them.”
Kardashian reportedly booked the stay using a “high-level credit card” and then reversed the charges because the card “allows them to get it all refunded back at any time”.
The castle's co-owner, Emma Cormack, today denied the claims.
“I will say they paid in the normal manner that happens: through the agent in Dublin who they booked through. The money was paid into our account.”
Ms Cormack said that she signed a confidentiality agreement with the couple and would not comment further.
Ms Cormack and her husband Declan bought the castle, built in the 1840s, in 2006 and restored it extensively. The castle is a private residence, not a hotel, but it is available for rent as self-catering accommodation.
The Cormacks calculate the rental price on a case-by-case basis, but the typical cost is around €15,000 per week.