Well-known Dublin hotels set for €70m sale

Two of the best-known hotels on Dublin’s north side have been put up for sale with a combined price tag of about €70 million.

The Grand Hotel in Malahide is understood to be marketed with a guide price in the region of €60 million, while the Royal Marine Hotel in Sutton is priced at about €10 million.

The sales process for both is still in the early stages, with staff thought to have been informed of the move in recent days.

Both hotels are owned by the Ryan family, who have been in the business for decades. The family are now understood to be retiring from the hospitality industry.

A message to managing director Matthew Ryan left outside regular office hours was not returned.

The 203-bedroom Grand dates from 1835 when it was opened as the Malahide Hotel and later the Royal Hotel. It was renamed the Grand in the early 1900s.

Matt Ryan took over the four-star hotel in 1974 and it has remained in the Ryan family since, according to the hotel’s website. It has expanded steadily in that time, adding a conference centre in 1982. The hotel employs about 200 people.

The Royal Marine, meanwhile, has 48 bedrooms, according to its website. It opened in 1897, taking the Royal Marine name in 1913. The Ryan family took it over in 1989.

The sales make them the latest in a string of high-profile hotels in Ireland to hit the market in recent months. The Mount Juliet resort in Co Kilkenny is seeking a buyer at €45 million, while the Slieve Russell in Co Cavan is on the market for about €35 million. Archer Capital bought the Shelbourne Hotel for close to €300 million earlier this year.

[ McKillen jnr completes sale of majority stake in Dean hotelsOpens in new window ]

The sale of the Dean Hotel Group to British property group Lifestyle Hospitality Capital (LHC) and Elliott Investment Management, the New York-headquartered investment giant founded by billionaire Paul Singer, has also closed in recent months. That deal valued those hotels at about €355 million and gives LHC and Elliott a stake of more than 70 per cent, The Irish Times reported in April.

Irish hotel sales could hit a record this year, exceeding €1 billion, according to broker CBRE. The previous peak year was 2006 at the height of the Celtic Tiger, when more than €1 billion worth of hotels also traded.

Back then, some of the hotels that changed hands were earmarked for development into apartments and other uses.