Dún Laoghaire: from €575,000The Dún Laoghaire seafront is about to get a major boost with the reopening this weekend of the Royal Marine Hotel following a major overhaul. Nearby, another Victorian seafront hotel has been given a complete new look. The Pierre Hotel on Victoria Terrace has been converted, London style, into a block of 16 apartments, with the best units overlooking the sea and Dún Laoghaire's East Pier.
All but one are two-bed units with prices starting at €575,000 through Alva Gunne Estate Agents and rising to €950,000 for the striking first floor show apartment which runs the full width of the building and is being sold completely decorated and furnished. The four-storey over basement building has been extended into a new building at the back that houses the majority of the apartments as well as a basement car-park. Several of the units have either terraces or balconies and there is also a large communal roof garden. Each apartment has a parking space, either in front of the building or in the basement, accessed from the back of the building.
With seafront properties on this side of the bay, you get the views at the front and the sun at the back. Buyers have the choice of just five seafront units, all of which benefit from the Victorian features of the original buildings, such as high ceilings complete with decorative mouldings.
However, as this part of the building is refurbished, stamp duty will apply, while the newly-built units at the back are exempt from stamp duty for first-time buyers and owner-occupiers under existing legislation.
The entrance is via the original hallway where the original ceiling cornices have been renewed and the floor paved in a glossy marble tile. This hall opens into a wide foyer with a lift and a staircase decorated in shades of cream and brown.
You go downstairs to get to the first of the front facing units - two duplexes arranged at basement and hall level. One is a two- bedroom apartment, priced at €650,000. It has a small cobbled terrace to the front of the building leading off the main bedroom and second patio to the rear. Upstairs is an open-plan livingroom and kitchen with tall sash windows at either end, one overlooking the sea, the other looking into an internal courtyard.
The second duplex has the same layout but is the only one-bedroom unit in the building. It has two enclosed outdoor spaces, that make the apartment seem a good deal larger and airier.
The first floor show apartment is a gorgeous two-bed that runs the full width of the building, with three tall windows - including a bay - looking out over the sea, from Sandymount to Scotsmans Bay.
Its big L-shaped livingroom- cum-kitchen diner has a smart, spacious fitted kitchen at one end. There is a good-sized double bedroom with a dramatic black and cream décor and the same lovely sea view. It has a wall of wardrobes while the en suite bathroom, also accessed off the hallway, is room-sized with a fashionable double-ended bath.
There are two internal staircases in the apartment, one leading up to a tiny utility space, the other leading down to a big guest toilet with handsome tiling and built-in shelves.
Inevitably the apartments in the newbuild at the back are more conventional in layout and finish. However, they do share the smart bathrooms and high electrical spec that sets this development apart from other conversions. On the plus side, too, is the sunny orientation and the higher up the building one goes, the better is the view towards Killiney Hill.
The development will appeal to well-heeled empty-nesters who want some old style charm and sea views. The location next to the Kingston Hotel with its beer garden, will make it lively in summer but perhaps the Kingston is next for a major overhaul.
