One of Ireland's premier tourist hotels, Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort, in the Co Limerick village of Adare goes for sale today.
John Hughes of agents CBRE is guiding between €25 and €27 million for the five-star resort which will be of interest to overseas hotel groups and Irish and foreign investment funds because of its international reputation and its spectacular setting on 766 acres of parklands and woodlands beside the Maigue river.
The resort is owned by Americans Tom and Judy Kane who acquired it in 1987 from the Earl of Dunraven. They restored and extended the manor and converted it into a 62-bedroom hotel, later adding a highly rated golf course designed by the legendary Robert Tent Jones, senior.
Mr and Mrs Kane, who have not been seen at the renowned resort for about a year, are understood to have borrowed heavily from AIB to fund new developments and maintain the estate during the recession.
A total of 71 villas and townhouses which were built and sold around 2005 are occupied on a full-time basis by some families while others use them for weekend breaks. There is currently planning permission for another 133 homes on the estate. Planning approval has also been secured for a large private hospital extending to 21,000sq m (226,040sq ft) as well as a nursing home but it is considered unlikely that the next owner will want to proceed with those projects for fear of further compromising what is a first rate hotel and golf estate.
Adare Manor has, along with Parknasilla in Kerry and Ashford Castle in Co Mayo, been one of the jewels in the crown of the Irish tourism industry. The Co Limerick venue frequently attracts between 70 and 75 per cent of its guests from the buoyant American market. The Dunraven State bedroom lets for anything from €600 to €900 per night during the busy summer months while other suites can make between €200 and €450. The hotel trades all the year around except January when it closes for maintenance.
The resort has the distinction of being chosen as Ireland’s Leading Hotel at the World Travel Awards in each of the three years up to 2013. The 18-hole golf course hosted the Irish Open in 2007 and 2008 and was home to the JP McManus Invitation Pro-Am competition in 2005 and 2010. It will be no surprise if McManus is among the bidders for the estate.
Adare Manor has become a popular venue for wedding parties of up to 200 who are generally accommodated on the carved oak Minstrel’s gallery which runs along one side of the great hall. Adare Manor was originally a two-storey seven-bay house from the early 18th century and when it passed to the second Earl of Dunraven in 1832 he began rebuilding it in the Tudor-Revival style as a means of occupying himself because he was prevented by gout from shooting and fishing.
Visitors to the hotel are invariably impressed by some of the architectural features, most particularly the great hall which has a vast size and height and is divided down the middle by a screen of giant Gothic arches of stone with similar arches in front of the staircase. The Minstrel's Gallery is often described as the grandest room, 132ft long and 26ft high with a timbered roof and carved Flemish choir stalls along the walls as well as a great deal of wood carving.
Other notable features of the house include 52 chimneys to commemorate each week of the year, 75 fireplaces and 365 leaded glass windows. The elaborate decoration is a credit to the craftsmen of the 1800s with handsome arches, gargoyles, bay windows and wood craft.
CBRE plans to offer the property for sale in its entirety or in two other lots: the hotel, golf resort and 509 acres; and 258 acres of agricultural land as a separate lot.
