Dalata plans next Cork, Ireland, hotel with land buy

Dalata, Ireland’s biggest hotel chain (which saw profits of €28.5 million last year), just keeps growing. Last month, it predicted what company chairman John Hennessy called "a very encouraging start for 2016," in spite of dropping reported plans to acquire the Gresham or the former Burlington hotels in Dublin or Lyrath in Kilkenny. In January, it purchased the Clarion Hotel in Sligo for €13 million.

Most recently, Dalata purchased a partially completed hotel in Cork for €10.2 million in cash that is expected to operate under the Maldron brand. The site received planning permission for a 121-room hotel 10 years ago, and the project began construction in 2007—but work ceased not long afterward and the building has remained a shell for the better part of a decade. 

With the purchase of the land, Dalata is now planning to get permission to finish the project from Cork City Council. If permission is granted, the company expects to launch construction by the end of the year, with the upscale hotel to open in the first half of 2018. 

Overall investment in the project, including the site purchase, will be more than €22 million, but this could very well be worthwhile. “The Cork hotel market has had a very strong start to 2016 and will continue to benefit from the increased economic activity in the city,” said Dalata executive Dermot Crowley. 

This is Dalata’s third Cork hotel. In October, it bought the city's Clarion Hotel for €35.1 million. They also own the Clayton Silver Springs Hotel.

Source: Irish Times