Tag: Dalata

1,300 hotel rooms to be added to Dublin, but supply will still be tight

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

It’s forecast that Dublin will see 1,300 new hotel rooms added to the capital this year. More than 500 of the rooms will come from extensions to existing hotels while six new hotels are expected to open in the city in in 2018.

Dalata, Ireland’s largest hotel group, will continue to grow opening three Maldron Hotels and a Clayton Hotel, a 140 room property on Kevin Street and a hotel on the site of the former Charlemont Clinic on the Grand Canal which will have 180 bedrooms opening in September. This month, the McGill family’s Iveagh Garden Hotel will open on Harcourt Street. The family also own the Harcourt and Harrington Hotels and the new 152 room property houses an underground river which will act as a source of renewable energy.

The Liberties will see the opening of Ireland’s first Aloft hotel in the spring with 202 rooms. The hotel is bound to be a hit with tech lovers as guests can use smartphones and Apple Watches to open their room doors. The Dean’s sister hotel, the 41 room Devlin will open in Ranelagh this summer, along with its own 50 seat cinema. According to Davy Stockbrokers said that 2018 will be the first time in almost 10 years that Dublin will see a “meaningful increase” in the supply of new hotel rooms.

Despite these new openings, Dublin’s hotel supply will still remain tight as Dalata close two hotels, the Ballsbridge Hotel and Tara Towers towards the end of 2018/start of 2019. Tara Towers will shut down later this year ahead of being redeveloped into a 140-bedroom Maldron Hotel while the groups lease on the 392-bedroom Ballsbridge Hotel is due to expire in October and while the group is expected to seek an extension of the lease until March of 2019, the property is then set to re-developed by Chartered Land.

Outside of Dublin, Belfast will get 4 new hotel additions, the Grand Central Hotel opening at the end of May with 304 rooms, the Maldron with 237 rooms, Marriott Hotel will open in the Quays area with 190 rooms and a Hampton Hotel will host 180 rooms. Cork’s South Mall area will also get sees a new Maldron too with 230 bedrooms.

Irish hotel property sales expected to exceed €700 million

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

 

Sales of Irish hotel properties are expected to exceed €700 million in 2016.

Transactions for the year are expected to once again exceed €700 million this year with 55 properties around the country changing hands, according to CBRE Hotels. This year will also be the best year ever for visitor numbers, with more than 10.5 million. 2017 is expected to see further growth of 4.5%

2016 has proved another busy year for the sale of Irish hotels following a record-breaking 2015 where a massive 63 properties were sold, transactions worth €710 million.

A key ingredient to the success, according to CRBE Hotels, is Dublin’s RevPAR (revenue per available room) continuing to attract international buyers. The RevPAr has continued to build momentum since 2014 and has now increased to 23%.

2016 has seen a number of high profile transactions with some of the country’s most famous hotels changing hands during the year.

Blackstone sold DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel to a German investment fund for €180 million, double Blackstone’s original investment in the former Burlington Hotel property. Operations in the property are currently managed by Dalata under the Clayton Hotel brand.

Dublin’s iconic Gresham hotel also changed hands this year, being sold to the Spanish Riu Hotel Group for €92 million after a fierce bidding war. The 4 star 323 bedroom property now called the Riu Plaza Gresham Dublin has planning permission for 140 additional bedrooms and conference facilities.

Hotel occupancy in Dublin has hit record heights this year, at 82 per cent, and will probably continue into 2017 due to the well documented shortage of hotel beds. According to STR Global, the hotel bench markers, during the last twelve months, the average Saturday night occupancy in Dublin was 89.6%.

According to a report by Fitzpatrick Associates, conducted on behalf of Failte Ireland, the large shortfall in accommodation has been negated by Airbnb, which provides around 782 rooms every day. This is the equivalent to four 200-bedroom hotels.

There have been only four new hotels opened in the past eight years- the Gibson, the Temple Bar Inn, the Dean and the Marker. In 2016, one hotel closed (the 182-room Clyde Court) and one opened (the 198-bed Holiday Inn Express on O’Connell Street). Only 16 extra rooms have been added in a city estimated to desperately need an additional 5,000.

here are plans for up to 80 individual hotel projects. Some are new builds and others are extensions to existing properties. The largest hotel will be at Dublin Airport’s T2, with more than 400 rooms.

Other large projects are a hotel at the Convention Centre Dublin (300 bedrooms), the Coombe (260 bedrooms) and a selection of 200-room new builds in Spencer Dock, Bow Lane, Charlemont Street, O’Connell Street, and Mill Street. Most of these won’t be operational until 2018 or 2019

Outside Dublin, a small number of big sales also boosted tourism growth.

Lyrath Estate outside Kilkenny city sold for far more than its €20 million guide price. The 1,250-acre Farnham Estate in Cavan, was sold for more than €22 million. Other country properties that have changed hands this year are the Clarion in Sligo for €13 million to Dalata; the Pillo in Ashbourne to Podium Hotels for €11 million; and Tulfarris Estate at Blessington to PremGroup for €8 million, a good deal higher than the asking price of €5 million.

Maldron Hotel brand to launch in England

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

 

 

Ireland’s largest hotel operator Dalata has begun to expand its successful Maldron brand into the UK market, opening a new location in Newcastle. Dalata signed a lease agreement to build a new Maldron Hotel with ES Newgate Limited, a division of McAleer & Rushe.

Once the building has been completed, Dalata will commence operations in the hotel with a 35-year operating lease. Five rent reviews will take place over this time, linked to the retail price index.The new 4-star property has a provisional opening date of Summer 2018. The property will have 226 bedrooms, a restaurant, and meeting room facilities.

Founded in 2007, Dalata is Ireland’s largest hotel operator, with a current portfolio of 40 hotels. Dalata already operates nine hotels in the UK, including six Clayton hotels. The firm also operates the Croyden Hotel in London, and a Maldron in both Belfast and Derry.

Deputy chief executive Dermot Crowley is optimistic about the new venture and says the development is an “exciting opportunity” to launch the brand in the English market.

“This development provides us with an exciting opportunity to launch our Maldron brand in the English market, in line with our strategy of rolling out our Clayton and Maldron brands in the large regional UK cities. We are delighted to be working on this project with our development partner, McAleer & Rushe, and look forward to opening in Newcastle in summer 2018.”

Dalata plan new 137 bed City Centre Hotel in Dublin 8

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

 

Dalata have acquired a hotel development site in Dublin 8 for €8.1 million. The site, located at the junction of New Street South and Kevin Street upper will see a development of 137 bedrooms, café, bar, restaurant and car park over 5 floors. Dalata, Ireland’s largest hotel group will begin construction of a Maldron Hotel in the last quarter of 2016, with the desire to have the hotel operating by mid-2018. The construction phase will cost €26million and employ 70 people.

Dermot Crowley CEO of Dalata group said it is “a very exciting opportunity for the company”. He furthered “The Dublin hotel market continues to perform very strongly in 2016, and we look forward to this Maldron Hotel contributing significantly to the Company performance in the future.

Dalata granted permission to acquire Gibson Hotel

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Dalata have received approval from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to acquire the leasehold of four multi-site hotels in a deal valued at around €40million.

  • Gibson Hotel – Dublin
  • Croydon Park Hotel – London
  • Clarion Hotel – Cork
  • Clarion – Limerick

A €14 million investment is planned by Dalata throughout the four properties over the next two years. The acquirement will see all rebranded under the Clayton Hotel name. The deal also means that the Clarion Liffey Valley Hotel will fall under Dalata as part of a short term management contract. The Gibson Hotel which is adjacent to The Three Arena was build be developer Harry Crosbie in 2010 before falling into the ownership on NAMA in 2013.

Image via Booking.com

Dalata To Focus On UK

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

 

Ireland’s largest Hotel group Dalata is to switch focus and concentrate on building their UK portfolio. Dalata own over 5,000 Hotel rooms across the country and their high profile acquisitions throughout 2015 saw them amplify their market share as specialists in 3*/4* Hotels across Ireland.

Dalata bought the Moran & Bewley group for €455 million in 2015 along with other purchases. Deputy Chief Executive Dermot Crowley said a warchest of €130 million is there is there is value in the market and is conducive to business.

Last week Dalata acquired the leasehold on four hotels for around €40m, including the Gibson Hotel in the Point Village in Dublin and the Clarion Hotel in Cork.

Full story here.

 

Cork’s Clarion Hotel sells for €35.1 million

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

The Clarion Hotel on Cork’s waterfront has sold for €35.1 million. Dalata Hotel Group have further extended their Irish portfolio, however the property will continue to be operated by Choice Hotels under the recognised Clarion brand. Dalata most recently acquired nine Bewley’s Hotel last in a €455 million takeover and operate more than 40 Hotels across Ireland.

Located on Lapps Quay, the Four Star, 191 bedroom Hotel was sold jointly by Savills and JLL. It is the biggest Hotel sale in Cork history with it being described as ‘record breaking’ by Tom Barett an agent from Savills. “The investment sale of the Clarion Hotel Cork attracted a strong level of both domestic and international buyer interest, resulting in highly competitive bidding and in the end a sale price well above our excess €30m guide price,” he said.

The Clarion Hotel which houses the Kudos Bar, a health spa and seven meeting rooms with the tenants of the building unaffected by the sale.