€6m for five-star Cork hotel and apartments

The former five-star Kingsley Hotel & Leisure Centre in Cork, closed since it was damaged by flooding which devastated the city centre in November 2009, is to be offered for sale at about €6 million.

Tom Barrett and Denis O'Donoghue of Savills are handling the sale for David Carson of Deloitte who was appointed receiver by the Bank of Ireland.

The same selling agency and receiver are currently looking for a buyer for the €2.5 million Midleton Park Hotel in the east Cork town, which was also developed by the same business partners, Tom Kelly and Tom McGrath.

Industry sources suggest that it will cost between €1 million and €2 million to replace mechanical and electrical fittings and to carry out refurbishment work on the ground floor of the Kingsley Hotel as a result of the floods.

Adjoining site
The 131-bedroom hotel, located close to the River Lee, dates from the 1990s and is being sold along with 18 two-bedroom apartments and a three-bedroom penthouse.

Though the hotel has been closed for more than three years, the serviced apartments with an average occupancy rate of 75 per cent continue to generate an income of around €24,000 per month.

An adjoining site of 2.2 acres had planning permission for a multi-storey student accommodation but the permission has since lapsed.

The hotel was extended and upgraded at very considerable expense in 2005 and includes 55 executive bedrooms with spacious floor areas. There is a large lobby and lounge, two bars, library, function room to accommodate 200 guests and eight meeting rooms.

Like most five-star hotels, there is the customary leisure centre with both indoor and outdoor swimming pools, gym and a spa and 12 treatment rooms over two floors.

Savills say that the hotel traded “very successfully” in the five star market until it was hit by the floods.

One of the features of the hotel is the Mary McAleese presidential suite, a duplex penthouse which comes with its own bar, grand piano and outdoor Jacuzzi overlooking the river Lee.

Occupancy rate
Just like the hotel market in Dublin, Cork hotels have been experiencing a significant pick- up in business. One study has shown that the overall occupancy rate in the city in 2012 was 71 per cent and the average room rate stood at €70 per night.

In the previous year, occupancy was struggling at 63 per cent while the room rate was €66.

At the peak of the boom in 2007, top hotels such as the Kingsley were attracting average room rates of €90 per night. “Once this hotel is up and running it can be expected to trade at the top end of the Cork market,” say Savills.