Hotel articles

Dalata reveals Profit, Purchase and Brand

Hotel group Dalata reported a 30.4 per cent boost in revenue in its maiden financial results as a public company to-day.

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The company also annouced its latest acquisition, the Holiday Inn Hotel in Belfast, and plans to rebrand the Moran Bewleys Hotels under the new four-star brand Clayton Hotels.

Revenues at the group, which floated on the Dublin Stock Exchange in March 2014, advanced by 30.4 per cent to €79 million in year to December 31st 2014, while pre-tax profits soared to €4.2m from €0.07m in 2013. Earnings (EBITDA) rose by 54 per cent to €8.2 million, and group revpar increased by 15.7 per cent on a ‘like for like’ basis primarily due to a 13.4 per cent increase in average room rate. Rents at the hotels it leases rose by 17.3 per cent to €16.2 million.Dalata has negotiated a term loan facility of € 282 million to part fund acquisitions and the group had no debt outstanding as of year-end 2014.

McDonagh Buys Cork Hotel

The founder of fast-food chain Supermac’s has bought the Charleville Park Hotel in North Cork with a view to a €1m upgrade.

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The 'Irish Examiner' reports that Pat McDonagh bought the hotel in a move which, he said, would safeguard more than 100 jobs in the town.

It becomes the third hotel to have been bought by the businessman in recent times, following the purchase of the Castletroy Park Hotel in Limerick and the Lough Rea Hotel and Spa in Co Galway.

A spokesperson said the hotel had been in receivership and that the sale took almost a year to complete.

The four-star hotel has 91 rooms and five executive suites, as well as a conference centre and 25m swimming pool.

Ballygarry Banquet Upgrade

Ballygarry House Hotel & Spa in Kerry, has invested €250,000 in a major refurbishment project that has seen The Monarch Suite completely transformed.

The Monarch Suite, which caters for weddings ranging from 50 – 380 guests, has undergone a complete makeover, with the room refurbished. . A major factor in the decision to upgrade was the improved wedding trade seen by the hotel in recent times, with all weekend dates for 2015 almost fully booked.

O'Callaghan Jumps

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The Mercury Engineering Race Day in aid of Irish Hospice Foundation took place at Leopardstown Racecourse, which also marked the end of the National Hunt Finale.

The wet weather forecast for Saturday didn’t affect the crowds that gathered at Leopardstown racecourse and luck was on their side with the weather staying dry until the bitter end.

Familiar faces such as The Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, Mary Harney, The British Ambassador, Dominick Chilcott and Ruby Walsh were among the race crowd.

The O’Callaghan Hotel group sponsored the second last race of the season with Do Be Doin’ to win the Handicap Chase for trainer Martin Hassett.

Hotel Rate Rise Again

The cost of staying in an Irish hotel climbed by 10 per cent, or more than 10 times the rate of general inflation last year, according to a

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new survey.

The average price of a hotel room in 2014 was €103 in the hotels.com Hotel Price Index (HPI), with the most expensive rooms in Killarney. The greatest price increase was recorded in Dublin .

However, the steep increases reported were rejected by the Irish Hotel Federation (IHF) which claimed the figures were based on a small market sample. It has put the increase last year at just over 5 per cent.

The hotel booking website stood over its figures and said they were based on bookings made on its site with the prices being those actually paid by customers rather than advertised rates.