A leading Irish resort hotel, the Lyrath Estate Hotel & Spa on the outskirts of Kilkenny city, is to be offered for sale at less then half its original value.
CBRE Hotels are seeking offers of more than €20 million for the now profitable five-star hotel which was put into receivership in May, 2012, by the Bank of Scotland on foot of a debt reported to have been close to €50 million.
A sister hotel in Kilkenny city, Rivercourt Hotel, also owned by the Kerry businessman Xavier McAuliffe, was sold in 2014 to the property developer Seamus Neville who owns the Royal Marine Hotel in Dún Laoghaire. Kieran Wallace of KPMG has been acting as receiver for both Kilkenny hotels.
Mr McAuliffe bought the Lyrath Estate on the old Dublin road close to the city and after restoring the 17th century house to its original grandeur added a four-storey extension to accommodate all but three of the 139 bedrooms and suites and a 1,800-seat wedding and function venue.
The €50 million spent on developing the hotel included about €10 million from a syndicate of 60 private investors. The hotel opened in 2006 as the property market was heading towards its peak.
The opening itself was marred by a court case in which the company was fined €1,000 for erecting an entrance without planning permission. As a result the then taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, pulled out of an arrangement to perform the formal opening. Kilkenny County Council subsequently allowed the hotel to retain the entrance in place.
After small trading losses in the first few years, Lyrath is now a "highly profitable" business largely because of its runaway success as a wedding and conference venue, according to Denis Curtin of CBRE. He says the hotel is reporting a "very substantial" pipeline of weddings/events confirmed for 2016 and 2017 – further underpinning the future success of the resort for many years to come.
With the Lyrath estate extending to 170 acres (69 hectares) the next owners may well decide to add a further range of leisure amenities such as a sports academy, equestrian centre or a golf course.
It was awarded the prize for hotel spa of the year in 2015 because of its 10 treatment rooms, relaxation suites, saunas, steam rooms, hydrotherapy pool and nail bar. The health club features a 17-metre infinity edge pool, sauna, jacuzzi, fitness centre, aerobics spaces and a crèche.
The facilities also include a 24-seat private cinema and, beside the entrance, a two-bedroom gate lodge with a modern stable building.
Curtin says that outside Dublin city centre, Kilkenny is one of the country’s most sought after hotel hot spots.
He describes the Lyrath Resort as “without doubt one of the most successful full service five star hotel operations in Ireland”.
