Dromoland acquiring Clare Inn Hotel

IT is understood that Dromoland Castle Holdings Ltd are on the verge of buying the Clare Inn Hotel, which went into receivership last year. The hotel went on the market in late March and had a guide price of €900,000.

Tom Barrett of Savills Ireland, which has been handling sale of the property, said it has now gone to “sale agreed”, although he wouldn’t confirm who the prospective buyers are. He said dealings are at an “advanced stage” of the process and some legal work remains to be done.

The Clare Inn Hotel went into receivership on January 28, 2011 but has always remained open. The hotel has been successfully operated by Dalata Hotel Group for the last year on a short-term management contract.

Clare Inn general manager Patrick Kilbane said, at its peak, the hotel employs 130 people but because of the seasonal nature of their business, sometimes staff numbers can drop as low as 20. At the moment, there are approximately 50 staff working in the hotel.

Mr Kilbane declined to identify the party involved in the purchase but said workers are pleased that the hotel is on the brink of being sold, as such a development would have the potential to safeguard jobs.
“It’s very positive from a staff point of view. While we were in receivership we were still able to do a certain amount of work with the hotel but only so much. We are very optimistic that we will be able to make big strides from now on.”

On its website, Savills outlined that the hotel has significant turnover, with a good business mix of rooms, food, beverage, leisure club and conference and banqueting.

The three-star property comprises 183 bedrooms, bars, a restaurant and conference and banqueting for up to 450 people. There are extensive ancillary facilities including a full leisure club, kids club, tennis, crazy golf and pitch and putt course. There is an extensive car park for approximately 300 cars and is on a site of approximately 21 acres.

Dromoland, a sister hotel to Ashford Castle in Cong, County Mayo, increased its portofolio in 2009 when it acquired Castlemartyr Resort in Cork. The Clare Inn skirts the boundary of Dromoland’s golf course.
Efforts to obtain a comment from Dromoland on the possible acquisition proved unsuccessful.