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THREE TOP IRISH hotels are set to be sold off for a combined €30 million, €10 million less than one of them sold for in 2006.
The Malton in Killarney, the Metropole in Cork and the Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel are to be sold either together or separately as part of what agents Savills say is the first hotel portfolio sale for almost a decade.
The four star Malton Hotel is the most famous of the three having been trading for over 160 years and better known as the former Great Southern Hotel.
The hotel and 12 acre gardens were bought by a developer in 2006 for about €40 million and then bought again by a group of local businesspeople the following year for about the same figure.
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The 172 bedroom hotel was the production base for the 1970 David Leen film Ryan’s Daughter with some filming taking place on the grounds. It is also known for hosting a number of dignitaries throughout the last century such as Princess Grace of Monaco and Jackie Kennedy.
The iconic Metrpole Hotel is in the heart of Cork City. Facebook
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The 112 room three star Metropole Hotel in Cork is also part of the portfolio with the well established business having been there since 1897. A bar, restaurant and gym also form part of the Leeside business.
The portfolio is completed by the Ormonde Hotel in Kilkenny City which includes the 118 bedroom four star hotel and 10 meeting rooms. The adjacent eight level Ormonde Street car park is also part of the sale.
Head of hotels at Savills Ireland Tom Barrett says that all three businesses are profitable and he expects significant competition for the portfolio.
“It is an excellent opportunity to acquire three highly regarded and profitable hotelsfor both existing hotel owners and operators and those seeking to enter the Irish hotel market for the first time,” he says.
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Just the other day the Journal ran an article about how the hotel industry was f#*ked. Well regarded these hotels might be, but profitable I think not. So much for honest journalism.
During the boom hotels were set up willy nilly to allow wealthy people to invest and get tax relief. It resulted in hundreds of unnecessary hotels that are now in massive debt. These hotels were around long before this craze. They’re nice hotels in great locations so I’d imagine they are very profitable.
We did, I linked to that article above. It’s very possible for a hotel to be profitable while the industry has a large overall debt. A hotel may also operate at a profit while being indebted.
Ronan
You are of course correct and I know I’m being more than a little disingenuous. But for such hotels to be sold at these knock down prices is an indictment of the financial climate under which they operate. Their price tag skews the market. And yes….One commentator on here has noted that a lot of hotels were built as tax breaks during the boom which is true. That also detracts from the value of established hotels. So whilst a hotel may be seen to operate at a profit ( like the ones in your article ) all that’s happening is those hotels which should never gave been built are now operating ( after being bought for knock down prices ) and ruining the prospects of others.
Running a small upscale hotel like one of these with a serious restaurant serving three meals a day and catering is a complex juggling act….the marketing, accounting , front desk, housekeeping, never ending maintenance, staffing challenges, dealing with impatient investors and partners whose only talent is for piling on more debt takes a mix of alchemy and steady nerves…did it for many years.
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