A duplex apartment previously owned by financier Derek Quinlan in the residential wing of the five-star Merrion Hotel has come back on the market after a handsome refit with a price tag of €3 million.
Apartment 3 was one of a number of upscale properties owned by Quinlan, who moved to Switzerland and London after the banking collapse, and which ended up in Nama. It was was sold by Nama in 2011 for €2.65 million to the family of one of the hotel's owners, Martin Naughton. The apartment has since been lived in by a young family with one of the bedrooms given over to bunk beds and a vast cartoon mural.
The 220sq m (2,368sq ft) apartment – one of eight built with the hotel – is entered from a corridor reserved for the use of residential owners rather than hotel guests.
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The double front door opens into a large room-sized hallway with the feel of an art gallery. There’s a small study on the right hand side and a utility room that doubles as a wine store. A guest bathroom with Jacuzzi bath services the first of the bedrooms, which overlooks the courtyard-style gardens of the hotel. Next door is the main bedroom suite with its large walk-in wardrobe and en suite shower room.
Roof light
The staircase to the upper floor is lit by a large roof light and below it, an art installation featuring a cascade of glass “leaves” in blue and green.
To the left is the main living space with a spacious open-plan livingroom cum dining room with an open fireplace fitted with a gas fire. The limed oak floorruns through the dining area which in turn opens directly into a spacious kitchen with cream high gloss units and a quartz worktop.
Man cave
The entertainment space continues into a third reception room: a sittingroom and bar with a sign over the door saying “man cave”. The 24ft room has a clubby feel with its vast curved sofa and walls decorated with panels of shimmering stamped tin that echoes the ceilings of New York bars where the material was once used as a fire retardant. There’s no mention in Lisney’s brochure of the bar, which is fitted with an array of shelves groaning with drink. The room, which was once a bedroom, has an en suite shower room.
There’s outdoor space too with the patio doors from the diningroom leading to a 27ft south-facing balcony that overlooks the hotel’s courtyard garden and the new apartment block where 11 apartments are close to completion in a new block that faces onto Baggot Street.
All but one of these units have been sold. Two- and three-bedroom units with 1,880sq ft of living space fetched about €2.5 million, according to David Bewley of Lisney who is handling the sale of number 3 and who was also involved with sales in the new wing.
Residents of the Merrion have access to the hotel’s room service and cleaning service at an additional charge, which is not included in the apartment’s service charge of €8,000 per year. The service includes use of the hotel’s gym and swimming pool. One parking space is included in the €3 million asking price for this apartment.
