In our last issue we reported that the Burlington Hotel, one of Dublin’s landmark hotels, is for sale with a guide price of €65-75 million. It was recently reported that the hotel has received a bid of approximately €70 million from the private-equity house Blackstone. Another landmark hotel, Ashford Castle is reportedly for sale for a guided €25 million. The 83-bedroomed five-star resort in Cong, Co. Mayo, was made famous 60 years ago by the Hollywood blockbuster The Quiet Man. The resort, which has welcomed many Heads of State as well as international personalities over the years, was bought five years ago by a property developer for a reported €50 million.
The five-star Lough Erne Resort near Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh is for sale for a knock-down guide price of €10 million, less than a third of the reported cost of its development. It has recently been reported that the resort has been chosen as the venue for the next G8 summit to be held next year.
It is reported that only seven weeks after being offered for sale, the Parknasilla Resort Spa in Co. Kerry has been taken off the market after a satisfactory offer was reportedly received from an overseas buyer. It is reported that the hotel was bought six years ago by property developer Bernard McNamara for almost €40 million. A subsequent €30 million was reportedly spent by him on enlarging and upgrading the resort.
Fota Island, the Irish golf resort which is currently being sold by NAMA, has reportedly attracted a bid from the Manx fund Bramden Investments whose chief executive has reportedly stated that he believes the fund’s all-cash bid to be among the frontrunners for the resort. It is reported that NAMA put a €20 million guide price on the resort when it put it up for sale.
It is reported that the River Lee hotel in Cork has been put up for sale and is likely to fetch up to €25 million. The Cork-based property company selling the hotel was reportedly quoted as describing the hotel as a non-core asset from which it had opted to extract value while market appetite was strong. The report noted that PV Doyle Hotels signed a 35-year lease for the 182-bedroomed hotel in 2006.
The former Ormond Hotel and two adjoining four-story period houses on Dublin’s Ormond Quay are for sale, guiding €2.5 million for the three properties which were reportedly acquired in 2006 by Bernard McNamara for approximately €17 million.
