Millrace on market for €2m
THE Millrace Hotel in Bunclody is on the market again just three years after it was bought by an overseas investor.
However there is a massive increase in price between the two sales.
In 2014 the hotel which was put on the market on the instructions of the receivers, KPMG, had a guide price of €950,000 however the sale price was never disclosed. This time it has a guide price of €2million.
In 2014 the buyer was said to be ‘an overseas investor with strong ties to Ireland’, who also owned Jurys Hotel in Limerick and the Clanree Hotel in Letterkenny. All three were operated by Dublin based McGettigan Management Services.
Being brought to the market by CBRE the Millrace Hotel, which was constructed in 2004, occupies a substantial four-storey building incorporating a feature ground-to-roof semi-circular glazed wall facing on to the Carlow to Enniscorthy Road.
The hotel comprises 60 well-appointed guest bedrooms located over the upper three floors of the building and many of the rooms have recently been refurbished. Included are 30 interconnecting rooms suitable for family occupancy. Each ensuite bedroom includes twin or double occupancy and are equipped with satellite TV, direct-dial telephone, ironing unit, hairdryer, as well as tea- and coffee-making facilities.
At ground-floor level is the hotel reception, Mill Bar and Bistro and a conference/function room with capacity for up to 200 guests. Also located at this level are back-of-house facilities including fully equipped catering kitchens. The hotel has two passenger lifts and a service lift servicing all floors.
At first-floor level is the Slaney Suite, which is self-contained with its own bar and a kitchen area and has capacity for up to 120 guests. On the second floor is the recently refurbished Dannu Spa, which offers a complete range of health and beauty treatments in seven treatment rooms. This area also interlinks with the leisure club and its 18m pool, gym, sauna, steam room and jacuzzi. The spa and leisure club are popular with both guests and local residents and have a substantial club membership.
Located on the top floor of the hotel is the feature rooftop restaurant with balcony and superb views over the surrounding countryside.
The hotel has an extensive tarmacadam surface car park capable of accommodating approximately 50 cars. There is also an overflow car park to the rear of the premises with room for an additional 70 to 80 cars. The hotel occupies a site of approximately 1.5 hectares (3.7 acres).
John Hughes, director at CBRE’s hotels division said: ‘ This sale offers an opportunity to acquire a contemporary, purpose-built hotel in the popular south-east tourist region of Ireland. The hotel generates significant business from local community functions, leisure breaks and golfers with the highly regarded Bunclody Golf Club entrance directly across from the hotel.’
While CBRE’s latest report on the hotel sector shows that transactional activity in the first six months of 2017 was down year-on-year, with 18 hotels changing hands compared to 29 hotels in the same period in 2016, the proposed sale of the Millrace Hotel is part of the momentum CBRE’s Lisa Keogh says is now building in the sector.