A lot of Glasnevin guest-house owners are selling up and quitting the B&B business. But it's too early to sound the industry's death knell, says Paul O'Doherty
ONE wonders, living in the shadow of Glasnevin cemetery, if the traditional bed and breakfast industry in this country is a death-march away from its final resting place in the pantheon of institutions that belong to a dying, used-up Ireland.
In the last number of years, at least 10 B&Bs within a quarter-mile radius of each other in Glasnevin have shut up shop and gone to the great accommodation facility in the sky. To lose one B&B in a community may be regarded as a bit of a misfortune, but to lose 10 seems a little more than careless, and possibly symptomatic of a greater malaise.
It's a state of affairs the Town & Country Homes Association - the largest Irish B&B representative body, north or south, with 1,200 members - has also noticed. According to its chief executive Alan Hill "since 2000, we've lost about a third of registered B&Bs, as per the Tourist Accommodation Accreditation (TAA) figures. However, I believe it's a generational issue rather than a supply and demand.
"The average age of our members is 60 years of age. We did some research in 2006, and in answer to the question 'what are you going to do when you retire?' 60 per cent of respondents said 'we're going to close our business rather than hand it on to a family member or sell it on as a going concern'.
"There is also a generation of B&B operators in the Celtic Tiger economy sitting on a very valuable asset, and of an age who think 'why should I get up at six o' clock in the morning and go to bed at midnight for six months of the year for marginal returns?' Thus the B&B market is at a crossroads and the product we knew traditionally is going to have to be re-engineered."
The same research also maintained that 20 per cent of B&Bs are valued between €350,000 and €450,000, 25 per cent between €450,000 and €600,000 and 44 per cent worth over €600,000, the average costing around €500,000.
This might appear a little on the low side, but then 98 per cent of B&Bs are in rural settings. In the Dublin market, former B&Bs are changing hands for €1 million to €2 million-plus. What's more important however, is that by implication, if the average age of a B&B owner is 60 years of age, and 60 per cent of owners are going to sell-up when they retire, in five years' time, 60 per cent of B&Bs will be up for sale, thus potentially creating a valuable opportunity in the market - before the hotels get in - for anyone who still believes in the individuality of the traditional B&B.
It's a view shared by O'Connor Shannon's Coleman Connor - who is looking after the sale of Renwell House (guide price €1.4 million), an eight-bedroom B&B on a 0.138-acre site, 100 yards from Glasnevin cemetery.
"The traditional B&B is on the way out with more and more going the 'boutique format', what you might call the Hidden Ireland or Blue Book route. Over the past four years, we've sold three or four B&Bs each year, mainly for emergency type accommodation.
"A lot of traditional B&Bs have found a use in this market and private individuals have bought them seeking Department of Justice or local authority clients, with some reverting back to a family home after refurbishment. On the whole, it can be quite difficult to get an alternative use for B&Bs."
The market has taken note of this observation with B&Bs now being sold without too much emphasis, if any, on their former status, preferring to advertise such properties as big family homes or as opportunities to convert excess accommodation into longer gardens or larger livingrooms.
In recent times Glasnevin has seen many €1 million to €2 million-plus B&B sales, following with the deaths of four former owners, two emigrations to Spain and Kerry, and at least two retirements. It is expected that another B&B will come to the market soon and will not be sold as a going concern.
Of those that are left, some feel let down by Fáilte Ireland and believe research undertaken by the Town & Country Homes Association reflects a rural perspective and doesn't properly consider the Dublin market. One such owner also maintains that a lot of the recommendations drawn up in the BDO Simpson Xavier Consulting and Amárach Consulting's Review of the Irish Homes (B&B) Sector 2005 have been ignored by tourism chiefs. He says that many B&B owners in Dublin are opting out of the Fáilte Ireland approval system ("the internet is the way forward") and are not members of Town & Country Homes Association ("great for the old lady with no credit card or internet facilities").
AND, while B&B owners in Glasnevin continue to leave the industry, they are adamant that it is still quite lucrative. Close to the airport, city centre, Dublin City University, the new Dublin Institute of Technology campus at Grangegorman, the Botanic Gardens and Croke Park, many now attract mostly non-Irish business through internet bookings.
Bernie Donnelly ran a B&B for four years on the Finglas Road in Glasnevin after giving up her position as an accounts technician "to try something different". For the most part, her experiences have been positive. "It is good, you get plenty of customers, especially around this area, and it's probably better than the country". When her husband took early retirement, Bernie decided "to give up working too", although she doesn't rule out returning to the B&B industry in the future.
A stone's throw away, Bernie Ryan recently sold her profitable B&B, "having been tied for so many years", preferring instead to move into the self-catering sector "where there is great short-term demand", which she believes will give her an opportunity to travel and see the world.
On a similar note Margaret Brick and Eugene O' Carroll, who own Aghadoe House on Botanic Road, Glasnevin, are currently looking to lease their B&B (see www.aghadoehouse.com) for a year to concentrate on Haus Ashling (see www.aislinghouse-austria.com), their B&B at Zell-Am-See, near Salzburg in Austria.
Up until now Eugene, who is on leave of absence from Irish Rail, has been running the Austrian B&B in the summer and winter seasons, between June and September, December and April. Their circumstances changed recently when Margaret took early retirement from AIB. Both love skiing, says Eugene: "We wanted to invest in a ski resort, so we bought some land and built on our property. We run it like a Dublin guest-house and do everything for our guests. We also have a bar in the guest-house, and we're allowed (under Austrian legislation) to sell drink to our guests."
According to Margaret Brick "we built the house five years ago and bought everything, including the land and furniture, for €750,000". Since the couple opened in Austria at least 30 Irish people have bought apartments in the area, having stayed at Haus Ashling. The couple believe they will get their investment back in Austria in 10 years.
But O'Carroll denies that the B&B business is dead in Glasnevin, acknowledging that decreased competition has certainly helped. "The B&B business is not going downhill and is very much alive in this area. We're full all this week and all next week. It does go down in the off-season but during the summer there is definitely not enough accommodation in Dublin from May until September".
All of which seems good news for anyone considering a local investment - bearing in mind that Glasnevin cemetery is due for a €25 million facelift in the coming years. With the Government even investing in the dead, maybe there's still life left in the old bed and breakfast industry.
