Lynch completes €40m Dublin hotel sale

Irish hotels group Lynch Hotels has completed its €40m (£29.8m) sale of Dublin’s Green Isle Hotel to Brennan Hotels.   The family owned company, which owns the upmarket Breaffy House hotel near Castlebar, Mayo, placed the 271-room hotel and conference centre on the market last autumn.   The purchase price represents an initial yield of around 6% before taking into account capital allowances attached to the property.   The Lynch family paid €11m (£8.2m) for the hotel situated near west Dublin’s Naas Road in 2003.   It is understood to have spent another €30m (£22.3m) on an extension to the property, doubling room capacity and adding a swimming pool and spa facilities.   Agents estimate there has been a trebling of hotel rooms in west Dublin – through new hotels and extending or upgrading of existing properties – in the last five years, resulting in a price war between hoteliers and downward pressure on room rates.   In a statement, Lynch Hotels said that it will now focus on operating its properties in the west of Ireland.   They include Breaffy House hotel and the West County Hotel in Ennis. It also owns Haydens Hotel in Ballinasloe.   Lynch Hotels managing director Michael Lynch said:  “While we have enjoyed developing both the physical building and business at the Green Isle Hotel we have made a strategic decision to focus on our West of Ireland hotels where our core competencies can be maximised.”   Brennan Hotels owns four hotels in Tipperary, Kilkenny, Meath and Wicklow, south of Dublin.   CBRE’s Paul Collins in Dublin represented Lynch Hotels.