Choice Hotels hoping to add properties

Choice Hotels Ireland is hoping to add properties in the UK to its portfolio in 2013.

Andy O’Neill, group operations director of Choice Hotels Ireland, told The Irish Times that this would likely involve it leasing properties.*

The group currently has a management contract for a hotel in Croydon, London.

“We are in talks for a couple of units in the[English] midlands at the moment,” he said. “We’d like to have eight hotels in the UK within three to five years.” This move is being underwritten by Choice Hotels International under the Clarion brand.

“We would hope to get a few quick wins by the middle of next year to generate some cash flow,” Mr O’Neill said. He said the Irish group would look at London but “it’s expensive to do business there” while Manchester, Edinburgh, Exeter and Southampton would be other locations of interest.

This expansion is supported by Choice Hotels Ireland’s lenders. Mr O'Neill said the group has agreed a business plan with the National Asset Management Agency and its lenders. This will involve the repayment of €11 million in loans over a five-year period.

* This article was edited 10am on November 6th, 2012