Goodbye, Monkstown - hello Monaco

Selling the family home in Monkstown this time last year was the start of an adventure for David and Gladys Bryan who earlier this year opened a boutique hotel on the Cote d'Azur. Property Editor Orna Mulcahy reports

Selling the family home in Monkstown was the start of an adventure for David and Gladys Bryan who earlier this year opened a boutique hotel in Cap D'Ail on the Cote d'Azur,

The Irish spent more money on property abroad than they did at home in 2004, with an estimated €2.5 billion invested overaseas, according to the experts. Most of this was spent in the commercial market, but millions more was quietly used to buy homes and residential investments from Budapest to Bulgaria.

France has become one of the most popular destinations for buyer who wants an investment abroad that they can actually enjoy, within a reasonable flight time from Dublin. With Aer Lingus flying daily to Nice, there's been a surge of interest in property on the Riviera among the well heeled Irish. David andGladys Bryan are two such buyers.

This time last year they put their Monkstown, Co Dublin home on the market with the intention of moving to the Cote d'Azur. Selling their Victorian villa style house at Brighton Vale for €1.9 million gave them 50 per cent of the money they needed to buy a 16-bedroom villa in chic Cap D'Ail, and convert it to a boutique hotel, the Hotel De Monaco which opened for business in time for the Monaco Grand Prix in May.

The Bryans had been looking for a manageable holiday home to retire to but instead but fell for the large three-storey house on a quiet street in Cap D'Ail, next door to Monaco. Prince Rainier had played as a boy and Winston Churchill used to paint in a villa down the street. Across the road is the villa of Lee Radziwill, Jackie Onassis's sister. The deal was done quickly, and the Bryans made the move south, much to the bemusement of their four grown-up children. "They thought we were mad." says David Bryan. "It's the children who are supposed to leave home, not the parents!"

The couple, who are intheir fifities, paid over €3 million for the villa, and another €300,000 to €400,000 refurbishing it, using the Dalkey Design Compand and Harriets House in Dublin. "We wanted to keep in the French style but we also needed to get it done on time. The Hotel de Monaco opened its doors at the end of May in time for the Grand Prix and business has been brisk ever since, mainly with French and Italian customers who like the relaxed style and the fact that the hotel is close to one of the best beaches on the Riviera.

Running a hotel is rather different to David Bryan's previous business which was producing toiletries for the hotel industry, but Gladys Bryan has a catering degree under her belt and after that's its just using your head," sayd David Bryant. It's a business and you have to look after your business. Of course there have been hitches, but you can't set out on an adventure and not have those. It's like being 22 again, and saying, what career will I go for?

Though the Bryans have only been in residence for less then a year, they say it would be difficult to return to Ireland. "If you wanted to live somewhere other than Dublin, you couldn't find a nicer place. Life is very civilised here, very leisured. There are 600 gourmet restaurants around here and you take 90 minutes for lunch. It's 18 degrees today and sunny and the sunshine does you good."

Since moving to Cap d'Ail, they've become part of the local scene and good friends with the mayor, who now wants his village to be twinned with Dalkey in south Dublin.

Room rates at the Hotel de Monaco range from €150 to €230 per night. Tel 0033492413100