Doyle Collections sells Marriott Courtyard hotel for $43.5m

he Doyle Collection has agreed to sell its Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Washington DC for $43.5 million.

The deal was agreed on Monday with a joint venture comprising Capstone Development and Quadrangle Development, which is separately building a 1,200-room, $547 million Marriott Marquis in the eastern US city.

Boston
This is the second hotel the Doyle Collection has sold in the US recently, having disposed of the Back Bay in Boston for $90 million to US-based Loews Hotels & Resorts in February.

The Doyle group is also in the process of selling its Normandy hotel in Washington DC. This deal is said to be "progressing well".

All three hotels were placed on the market through estate agents CBRE.

It is understood the price achieved for the Marriott Courtyard represented a yield of below 6 per cent.

The Marriott and Normandy were acquired by the former Doyle hotel chain before its merger with Jurys and subsequent rebranding by the current owners – members of the Doyle and Beatty families.

The Normandy was acquired in 1982, while the Marriott Courtyard followed in 1992. Both were last refurbished by the Irish hotel chain in 2008.

The Marriott Courtyard has 147 bedrooms and is run under a long-term management contract with the international chain. It has had a $6.5 million facelift undertaken by the Doyle Collection.

The 75-bed Normandy has no restaurant, conference or leisure facilities.

The sales of these hotels will leave the Doyle group with just one property in the US – the Dupont Circle Hotel, also in Washington DC.

It plans to retain the 327-bed Dupont, which was refurbished in recent years for $52 million.

Strategic review
The decision to sell the hotels followed a strategic review of its 11-strong portfolio by the Doyle Collection. It is thought that the group is keen to add another property to its portfolio in London, where it already has three hotels – the Bloomsbury, the Kensington and the Marylebone hotels.

It is understood the group has no aspirations to add to its Irish portfolio. This comprises the Westbury Hotel and the Croke Park Hotel in Dublin and the River Lee Hotel in Cork.