Zombie hotels enjoying long-awaited revival

The zombie hotels dotted across the landscape are beginning to revive or die.

Four years ago, the country’s debt-laden hotels were contending with falling visitor numbers and new competitors financed by surging mortgage lending during the Celtic Tiger boom. That’s when zombie hotels emerged, slashing room rates to stay alive and keep tax breaks granted during the boom.

Now increasing demand for rooms, led by Dublin, is prompting investors from US billionaire John Malone to Russia’s richest woman to buy hotels here.