€30m for portfolio of three top hotels

In the first sale of a hotel portfolio in almost a decade, Nama is to seek buyers for three profitable hotels in Cork, Kilkenny and Killarney.

The hotels will be sold as a portfolio or in individual lots.

Tom Barrett of Savills is quoting in excess of €30 million for the Metropole Hotel, Cork, the Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel and the Malton, Killarney.

Peak price

The Galway developer

Gerry Barrett

bought the Malton and another former Great Southern hotel, the Meyrick in Galway, for about €40 million each, in 2006.

He retained the Galway property and sold on the Killarney hotel, for about the same figure, to a group headed by Padraig Treacy, who also owns the Park Hotel in Killarney.

As an individual lot, Savills is quoting €15 million for the Malton, Killarney, which has been trading for more than 160 years and stands on mature grounds extending to 12 acres.

The 172-bedroom hotel is best known for its conference and banqueting facilities and its strong wedding business.

Savills is also expecting in excess of €11.5 million for the Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel, which has 118 bedrooms, conference and banqueting accommodation and a multistorey car park with 712 spaces on the opposite side of the road.

The hotel alone is understood to have cost more than €20 million to develop.

Dated

The dated Gresham Metropole Hotel in Cork has been trading since 1897 and was acquired before the recession by Brian Cullen’s Gresham group.

Savills is now quoting €4 million for the 112-room hotel, which also includes the Leeside Leisure Centre.

Tom Barrett says the sale of the profitable hotel portfolio would provide a unique opportunity for both existing hotel owners and operators and those seeking to enter the market for the first time.

“All the hotels are trading very well and are generating significant profits. We expect considerable interest in the portfolio.”