Hoteliers Francis and John Brennan have agreed to hand control of their Lansdowne Kenmare hotel to local man Patrick Hanley, whose family owned and operated the hotel for almost three decades.
Mr Hanley and his wife Aileen, experienced hoteliers who currently own the Strand Cahore seaside restaurant in Wexford, will have three years to complete purchase of the Lansdowne, which the Brennan brothers put on the market along with their Park Hotel in Kenmare with a combined guide price of €20.5 million last year.
Mr Hanley, a former general manager of the five-star Park Hotel, has deep ties to the property. Then known as the Lansdowne Arms, the hotel was owned and operated from 1972 to 2000 by his parents, Breda and Bobby Hanley.
[ Who is the new owner of the Park Hotel in Kenmare, and what are the plans for it?Opens in new window ]
“I know and love every nook and cranny of the hotel. It is part of my DNA,” he said. “I am very passionate about this heritage property as well as the town. Aileen and I will continue to run The Strand Cahore in Co Wexford which we bought in 2018 and to which we will add accommodation in the near future. Importantly, we are equally committed to delivering the highest standards of service in both businesses.”
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Ms Hanley, originally from Meath where she held a senior management position at Bellinter House, said the Lansdowne is “perfectly poised to attract both domestic and international visitors” after the Brennans completed a €1.5 million refurbishment of the property in 2021.
The Lansdowne Kenmare is a 28-bedroom boutique hotel in the centre of the south Kerry town. It was built in 1790 as a residence for the second earl of Shelbourne, making it one of the oldest properties in the town. It secured four-star accreditation and inclusion as member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World and in Ireland’s Blue Book following the recent refurbishment.
The announcement of Mr Hanley’s return to Kenmare follows the sale of the Park Hotel in November to businessman and social entrepreneur Bryan Meehan.
The Brennan brothers have been associated with the Park, which dates from 1897, for almost 40 years. Francis Brennan bought the property out of liquidation in 1986, having leased it for the previous two years, and John Brennan is currently the managing director. In 2018, Fergal Naughton, executive chairman of the Glen Dimplex Group, became an investor, acquiring a 30 per cent stake.
[ Five-star Park Hotel Kenmare and Lansdowne Kenmare on the market for €20.5mOpens in new window ]
Meanwhile the value of hotel sales in the Republic last year fell far below historical levels as interest rates rose, Savills Ireland has said.
Deals with a total value of €350 million took place in 2023, well below the historical average, Savills said, largely due to a steep decline in the number of transactions in Dublin. Demand for regional hotels, meanwhile, persisted amid “strong trade” and “attractive yields”, particularly in the luxury hotel category with revenue per available room, a key metric in the industry, coming in 50 per cent ahead of 2019 levels.
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