Is has been reported that a Swiss company, with the backing of Israeli investors, has acquired the Grand Canal Square Hotel, which is located in the Dublin docklands and has been vacant for some time. The hotel and apartment complex was originally built by a Dublin developer and funded by Bank of Scotland, which has since closed its banking operations in Ireland. The development also has five retail units on the ground floor and 138 underground car parking spaces.

KPMG receivers have been working on the sale of the hotel complex, which is situated directly opposite the Grand Canal Theatre, for around 15 months. The receivers have still not confirmed the sale of the Dublin hotel and the 84 apartments in the complex, although it is believed that the price is somewhere around €30 million. If this figure is true then it falls well short of the debts on the development, which are thought to be in the region of €90 million.

The Swiss company in question is thought to have links with the W Hotels chain. This group specializes in luxury boutique hotels and currently has establishments in New York, Washington and Barcelona as well as hotels in London. As yet there is noting to indicate that the Dublin...Click to read more about Uncategorized

Last week a syndicate of financial institutions led by Ulster Bank is reported to have taken control of the hotels that make up the D4 Hotel Group located in the Ballsbridge area of Dublin. Over six years ago the lenders had provided finance to Carlow property developer Sean Dunne to acquire the former Berkeley Court hotel and Jurys hotel in the upmarket area of Dublin in a deal worth some €400 million. It is reported that at the height of the property boom Mr Dunne paid some €125 million for the five-star Berkeley Court and €275 for Jurys Hotel.

The lenders have reportedly appointed Dalata Hotel Group to take over the management of the hotels in Ballsbridge. Dalata is run by Pat McCann, the former chief executive of the Jurys Doyle hotel group and in an ironic twist it was Mr McCann who was involved in the negotiation of the sale of the hotels to Mr Dunne back in 2005.

The initial plan was to build an exclusive high-rise mixed development on the site of the hotels and the centrepiece of the projected €1.5 billion development was to be a 37-storey tower. However, the plan was rejected by An Bord Pleanála in January 2009 and the hotels were reopened...Click to read more about Uncategorized

It has been reported that Yelena Baturina, wife of the former mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov and one of the richest women in Russia, is poised to buy the Morrison Hotel in Dublin from Nama, the Irish state assets agency. It is believed that Nama is in the advanced stages of completing the sale of the Morrison, which has been on the market since September last year, and is expected to fetch between €20 and €25 million. This price is around half the value placed on the hotel by Anglo Irish Bank back in the heady days of 2006.

The Moscow Times reports that Baturina is bidding for the Dublin hotel through a London-based asset management vehicle. It is believed that the deal has not yet been completed but is expected to be signed this week. Baturina’s bid is thought to be the highest of a shortlist of three or four formally made to Nama at the close of 2011. The Russian business woman is reported to be worth some $1.2 billion and has a wide range of interests including construction and manufacturing as well as farming and property.

The Morrison Hotel was part of businessman Hugh O’Regan’s pub and hotel portfolio until Martin Ferris was appointed as receiver...Click to read more about Uncategorized

The O’Callaghan hotel group recently announced the completion of a major investment in its Dublin hotels. Despite the difficult trading conditions that many hotels in Dublin are currently experiencing this is the second major refurbishment process the group has embarked on in the last three years. In 2009 the group invested some €3.3m on a 21 bedroom extension to its Stephen’s Green hotel in the Irish capital. The O’Callaghan Group is a privately owned Dublin based hotel and apartment group whose properties include the O’Callaghan Alexander, Davenport, Stephen’s Green and Mont Clare hotels.

Bryan O’Callaghan, Head of Group Operations at the company, said that: “This investment is a very significant chapter in the success story of O’Callaghan Hotels Group. In what has been a challenging trading environment in the hospitality sector we have continued to invest in our business to offer our customers a consistently high level of service and care.”

The investment included a refurbishment of the hotel bedrooms in the St Stephen’s Green hotel as well as a major upgrade to the IT installations and energy efficiency the group’s Dublin hotels. The result is improved Wi-Fi systems with increased bandwidth and coverage and high-end Bose speakers with monitors, projectors and microphones in all the conferencing facilities. Mr...Click to read more about Uncategorized

The two concerts that English band Take That will be playing in Dublin this weekend are proving to be  very lucrative for many of the city’s hotels that have been hard-pressed due to the downturn in trade from the on-going economic crisis. Take That are bringing their Progress tour to Dublin and will play two concerts on both Saturday and Sunday night. The concerts will take place in Croke Park and the crowd capacity over the two nights is expected to be somewhere around 165,000 in what may well prove to be the biggest music event of the year in Dublin.

The band has already arrived in Dublin and are reported to have booked the entire top floor of the Four Seasons hotel for themselves and their entourage. Ordinary fans, however, may not have the same luck if they have left it to the last minute to find a hotel room in the city. The Irish Times reported earlier in the week that the hotels.com website was showing that 235 hotels and guesthouses in Dublin had no availability left for Saturday night. Of those that did show availability it was reported that the Gresham had only a couple of rooms and the price was €390 for the night. The...Click to read more about Uncategorized