€720m spent on Irish hotel transactions in 2016
According to new research from Cushman & Wakefield, a record €720 million was spent on 51 hotel transactions in Ireland last year. Cushman & Wakefield, the commercial partner here of Sherry FitzGerald, also found that the biggest deal in 2016 involved the sale of the former Burlington Hotel for €182 million to German asset manager Deka Bank.
The hotel had been acquired by Blackstone in 2012 for €67 million. Its new owner has since rebranded it as the Clayton Hotel Burlington Road, with Irish hotel chain Dalata installed as its operator. In terms of value, next in line was the sale of the Fitzpatrick lifestyle hotels for €150 million to the John Malone Partnership.
When it comes to the price-per-room paid, the most expensive deal was the sale of the three-star Temple Bar Hotel in central Dublin for €55.1 million in an off-market transaction. This equated to €405,147 per room and put it ahead of the Double Tree/Burlington deal at €363,273 per room. Around the country, the biggest deals were the sale of the Radisson Blu Farnham Estate in Cavan for €28 million and the Lyrath Estate in Kilkenny at €25 million.
According to Cushman & Wakefield, 20 hotels were on the market at the end of December, half of which were sale agreed. This included the two-star Camden Deluxe on Camden Street in Dublin for more than €8 million, Lynam’s Hotel on O’Connell Street in Dublin for a reported €6 million and the four-star Maritime Hotel in Bantry, Co Cork, for more than €1.5 million.
Hotels in Dublin recorded the highest occupancy rate in Europe last year at 82.5%. Kirsty Rothwell, head of trading assets at Cushman & Wakefield, said the outlook for tourism remained positive but expressed concerns about a shortage of new stock in Dublin. “While there has certainly been a significant increase in the number of planning applications and permissions granted for hotel bedrooms throughout the city, there remains a limited number of developments under construction,” she said.
Top 5 Hotel Sales in Ireland in 2016
Double Tree by Hilton – price: €182m, price per room: €362,273
Fitzpatrick Lifestyle Hotels – price: €150m, price per room: n/a
Gresham Hotel – price: €92m, price per room: €284,830
Temple Bar Hotel – price: €55.1m, price per room: €405,147
Radisson Blu Farnham Estate – price: €28m, price per room: €177,215
