The McGettigan Hotels group has strengthened its stake in the Irish hotel industry by acquiring the Maldron Hotel Citywest and Kingswood Country House, close to Citywest shopping centre in Dublin 22.

The group paid more than €4 million for the three-star hotel which has 129 bedrooms and adjoins Kingswood Country House, a period house recently renovated and extended to accommodate a restaurant, bar and functions facilities.

Tom Barrett of Savills handled the sale of the hotel for receiver Kieran Wallace of KPMG.

The business has been run by the management company Dalata Hotels since 2007, a year after it opened. The hotel has a large car park and stands alongside the N7, the primary road linking Dublin to Limerick and Cork, and derives much of its business from the substantial passing trade. It is also close to the M50 which carries traffic to Dublin Airport.

McGettigan’s purchase of the Maldron will bring to five the number of hotels in his Irish portfolio. The group is supported by a number of investors and runs some of the hotels by way of management contracts.

Several of its Irish hotels were acquired after values collapsed in the wake of the economic crisis.

It bought the 151-bedroom Jurys Inn in Limerick city centre just over a year ago for close to €3 million and within weeks had turned it into a highly profitable business. The newly designed Cookhouse bar and food offering on the ground floor has been a success and has changed the entire ambiance of the hotel. It now trades as the Limerick City Hotel.

McGettigan's other successes include the North Star Hotel near Connolly railway station in Dublin which now trades as a four star.

Other hotels in the group are the Clanree Hotel in Letterkenny; the Ambassador in Cork; and the Millrace Hotel in Bunclody, Wexford.