Talbot buys Oriel House for €8m

Irish family-owned hotel chain the Talbot Hotel Group is set to close a deal worth almost €8m on Cork’s Oriel House Hotel, in Ballincollig.

It will be the Talbot Group’s second county Cork hotel acquisition in recent months, after they concluded the €3m-plus purchase of the Midleton Park Hotel in March, where they are carrying out a €1m refurbishment.

Now, market sources say the Wexford-based hotel group are the successful top bidders on the 78-bed Oriel House Hotel, the only hotel in fast-growing Ballincollig, which has major employers like EMC and VmWare.

The purchase means the group will own the only hotels in two Cork commuter towns east and west of the city centre.

The Oriel House Hotel was put up for sale in January with Savills, with a guide price of €6m, but the level of Irish and international interest and bids has seen sale terms agreed just shy of €8m, according to sources close to the underbidders.

Couples with pending weddings in the Oriel House have been told the Talbot Group will be in control within weeks.

Owned by the Pettitt family, which also own several SuperValu stores, the Talbot Group comprises a trio of four-star hotels — the Talbot Wexford, the Stillorgan Park Hotel, Dublin, and the Talbot Carlow.

Now that is heading for five with the recent €12m spend on two Cork hotels.