Hotels

Donnybrook Hotel plan rejected

Plans by the Scally family to break into the Dublin market have suffered a setback after its proposal for a €50m new five-star hotel was rejected.

Dublin City Council has refused planning permission to Donnybrook Hotel, a company owned by hoteliers, Joe and Margaret Scally, for a hotel on the site of the former St Mary’s College in Donnybrook.

The Scallys, who own the Hayfield Family Collection that includes the five-star Hayfield Manor Hotel in Cork as well as the Killarney Royal Hotel and the Great Southern Hotel in Killarney, had hoped to convert and extend the former Carmelite seminary on Bloomfield Avenue in Donnybrook into a luxury hotel complete with spa facility including indoor and outdoor swimming pools.

Comer appeals hotel plan refusal

Property developers Luke and Brian Comer are appealing a decision to refuse planning permission for their plans for a large new hotel in the Dublin suburb of Kilmainham.Ladas Property Company, which is part of the Comer Group, has asked An Bord Pleanála to overturn last month’s ruling by Dublin City Council to reject their proposal to demolish a vacant used car dealership building at Kearns Place in Old Kilmainham and to construct a six-storey hotel.

The site of the proposed hotel, which would contain 80 bedrooms, restaurant, rooftop café and semi-private walk along the Camac River, is close to the tourist attractions of Kilmainham Gaol and the Royal Hospital Kilmainham.

Meyrick wins planning appeal

Hotel Meyrick in Galway has successfully challenged a ruling of Galway City Council blocking its plans to increase accommodation capacity by almost 20 per cent. meyrick

The hotel, on Eyre Square in Galway had its appeal against the council’s decision to reject plans to add an extra 19 bedrooms upheld by An Bord Pleanála.

The hotel, which was formerly known as the Great Southern Hotel, wants to convert its existing fifth-floor, double-height leisure centre and former swimming pool into 13 guest rooms and add an extra storey containing another six bedrooms.

The changes by the hotel’s owner, MT Mono Trading, relate to a rear extension added in the 20th century to the original mid-19th century building which is a protected structure. They will bring the total number of rooms in the hotel to 122.

Fairmont brand for Carton House

French hospitality company Accor has signed a deal to manage the four-star Carton House in Co Kildare in a move that will see the property refurbished and rebranded.

The property will be called Fairmont Carton House from the end of this year when a full refurbishment is expected to be completed.

The Maynooth property will join the Plaza in New York and the Savoy in London as part of the Fairmont brand. Ownership of the hotel by the Belmullet Hospitality Group, controlled by Irish American businessman John Mullen, is unchanged under the deal.

Powerscourt boosted profits in 2018

Pre-tax profits at the company that operated the luxury five-star Powerscourt hotel in Co Wicklow which was sold last year for about €50 million, fell by 8 per cent to €1.8 million powerscourt0320

in 2018.

Hotel group MHL Collection, owned by US billionaire John Malone, purchased the hotel last March. Accounts filed at the Companies Office by the Sugarloaf Ventures Ltd show that the hotel company recorded pre-tax profits of €1.833 million in 2018 – the last full year of operation – after revenues edged up 2 per cent to €21.73 million.

The MHL Collection purchased the Enniskerry hotel from Tetrarch Capital and Midwest Holding. The MHL Collection already includes InterContinental, the Westin in Dublin and Glenlo Abbey in Galway along with a string of four-star hotels.