Buyers for Great Southern hotels emerge

Galway businessman Gerry Barrett is buying three of the best-known hotels in the Great Southern Hotel Group for a figure likely to be about €130 million.

The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) will today confirm the sale of its eight hotels for more than €250 million.

Mr Barrett is acquiring the Galway Great Southern Hotel on Eyre Square, the Corrib Great Southern Hotel on the Dublin Road in Galway and the Killarney Great Southern Hotel.

Dublin property developer Bernard McNamara is also due to be named today as the new owner of the Great Southern Hotel in Parknasilla, Co Kerry, after agreeing to pay almost €40 million for it.

The four remaining Great Southern hotels at Dublin airport, Shannon, Rosslare and Cork are likely to go to a company already involved in the hotel industry.

Paul Collins, of estate agent CB Richard Ellis, who is handling the sale of all eight hotels, said last night that he was "precluded from making any comment until the tendering process has been completed".

There were more than 100 expressions of interest in the hotel group which has been running at a loss in recent years.

Six of the hotels are four-star properties, while the other two trade as three-star hotels.

The eight hotels between them have 1,054 bedrooms and extensive conference, banqueting and leisure facilities.

It is understood CIÉ did not lodge a formal offer for the Great Southern hotel on Eyre Square despite reports from the company that it wanted to use it as part of the €750 million redevelopment of the city's adjoining rail and bus station.

The hotel is valued at around €40 million and sits on 12.4 acres, which are likely to be developed by Mr Barrett.

He already owns the G Hotel in Galway, the D Hotel in Drogheda and has plans to open two more hotels.

These are at the former Hatch Hall on Hatch Street, Dublin 2, and also at the former Bow Street Magistrate Court in London.

The second hotel in Galway, the Corrib, has been trading poorly in recent years but has a seven-acre site that it likely to be used for an apartment development.

The Killarney hotel also has scope for a commercial or residential scheme, as it sits on a site of 12.4 acres.

Parknasilla, regarded as the jewel in group's crown, comes with planning permission for the complete renovation of the hotel's public area.

It also includes a leisure facility, extra bedrooms and suites and an additional 67 apartments and holiday homes on extensive grounds.

The sale of the Great Southern Hotel Group comes after five years of rapid growth in the Republic's hotel industry.

During that time, the number of bedrooms has increased by more than 50 per cent to over 40,000.