HOPES ARE high the €100 million Capella Hotel in Castlemartyr, Co Cork, which closed in November just over a year after it was opened by then taoiseach Bertie Ahern, will reopen in the spring under new management.
It is understood the board of Dromoland Castle will take over the luxury Castlemartyr resort subject to negotiations with the hotel's owners.
It closed late last year when the management agreement between the Capella brand and the West Paces Hotel Group ended.
The hotel has 103 guest rooms, an 18-hole golf course and clubhouse, a spa and fitness centre, and was named an "ultimate escape" by the luxury lifestyle magazine Robb Report.
Capella opened its doors for business in Castlemartyr in autumn 2007 with room rates ranging from €400 a night for the regular suites to €3,500 for the presidential suite.
Rates dropped considerably in the harsh economic climate of last summer/autumn.
The hotel was marketed initially to the US market but the collapse of the dollar forced it to move its marketing position. The hotel originally targeted well-heeled overseas visitors with its combination of luxury and novelty attractions.
Capella Castlemartyr is a 17th-century manor house set on 220 acres that includes the ruins of an 800-year-old castle. The castle, from which Castlemartyr takes its name, was built in 1210.
Capella Castlemartyr is part of an estate that was built by the Knights Templar and the first Earl of Cork.