Beach resort reborn

ONCE it was hormone-driven, now it is holiday-driven, value-driven and tax-driven.

Beach-fronting Redbarn, once famed as much for its ballroom of romance as for its miles of sandy beaches, is being re-born with a family flavour.

The home tourism tide has turned for Redbarn, after a decade or more of abandonment: the rise of the short break away phenomenon, the lure of an all-weather beachside resort and a link with the dynamic, 23-hotel strong Quality Hotel network via its enterprising executive Frankie Whelehan (a judge in RTE Two’s The Fund) has put Redbarn back on the map.

Quick geography lesson: East Cork, close enough to lure visitors from counties Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford and Kilkenny primarily, and the two-year old Quality Hotel and leisure centre midway on the miles of beach is getting callers from all these counties and beyond.

Launched for sale this Bank Holiday Weekend are 52 four-bed holiday homes in a Redbarn scheme know as Mariner’s Bay. Apart from their setting on miles of Blue Flag sandy beach, there’s a tax-break lure for investors.

Essentially, the scheme will be let out via Quality Hotels for a 10-year period. They’ll guarantee an annual rent of €9,000 for investors, net of all charges, and buyers have the option of purchasing the holiday homes with, or without, a buy-back at the end of the 10-year period at a fixed price.

Selling agent is Brian Olden of Cohalan Downing, and sales prices for the 1,250 sq ft houses, with quality finishes by contractors Supples, are from €308,000, including fit-out, plus reclaimable VAT each.

They’ve 90% capital allowances under a Section 23-type scheme, and relief (ie €260,000 over 10 years) can be claimed against all Irish rental income.

According to Frankie Whelehan of Choice Hotels, which controls 3,500 bedrooms nationwide, the fact this is being developed and guaranteed by a leading hotel operator in for the long-haul “shows commitment to the product, that it will last and be developed properly, and that is bound to appeal to people”.

Long-established hotels like Kelly’s of Rosslare and the Inchdoney Lodge and Spa in West Cork have shown the way forward for mixing home and seaside holidays with all-weather amenities, and so Choice/Quality Hotel’s offering at Redbarn will be a key part of its sales and letting appeal.

The three-star hotel has provided an indoor heated swimming pool looking directly out on the miles of beach towards Youghal itself; there are two all-weather sport pitches, two games rooms, Club Vitae therapy rooms and sauna, etc., conference facilities, children’s playground and more.

Ballymacoda, Ballycotton, and Knockadoon are all nearby to the west, Cork city is a 30 minute commute and there’s over half a dozen superb golf courses within a half-hour spin by car.

Youghal is two miles away along the beach “and it is a rare day in Ireland that you won’t get a break in even winter weather to have a walk on a beach,” says the upbeat Frankie Whelehan.