220-year-old hotel selling for €1.5m in Waterford

AN historic hotel in an historic Munster town celebrates 220 years of guest service and hospitality this year. It is also for sale, for €1.5m.

In lovely Lismore is the 29-bed Lismore House Hotel, in the centre of the Blackwater-set scenic town, by the Ambrose Power Memorial.

It was originally know as the Devonshire Arms Hotel, given its long, long links to the Duke of Devonshire, and was built to accommodate guests of the Cavendish family at Lismore Castle.

Claimed as Ireland’s first purpose-built hotel, with a pedigree back to 1797, the Lismore House Hotel/Devonshire Arms underwent a significant overhaul and rebranding in 2006 (there was also another Blackwater Devonshire Arms Hotel in Youghal, in previous decades), setting up as a four-star boutique hotel with conference/function facilities for 200 people.

The Georgian-established Lismore hotel was most recently associated with the Nolan family, who have an Irish and European transport-and-haulage business. Last year, members of the family settled a long-running legal battle with AIB over hotel investments, including the Lismore House Hotel, and Isaacs Hostel, in Dublin, where debts of up to €23m were in dispute.

Lismore House Hotel has not traded recently; latest Tripadvisor comments were in mid-2016, but it’s almost in ‘ready to go’ condition, says appointed selling agent, David Reynolds, of Sherry FitzGerald Reynolds, who is selling by private treaty.

With recovery in the hospitality/hotel markets, and a new visitor focus on the county, due to factors like the Waterford Greenway cycle/walkway route to the south and the recent Dublin-Waterford motorway, demand for hotel accommodation has surged, according to Mr Reynolds.

“Given its 29, fine bedrooms, substantial conference and banqueting facilities, plus a well-appointed bar-and-restaurant area, this hotel should attract strong interest from the Irish and international markets,” Mr Reynolds states.

“There is an obvious, severe shortage of bedroom accommodation, particularly in the West Waterford area, with many tourists now having to secure accommodation in neighbouring towns,” he adds.

Among the guest who’ve stayed at the Main Street hotel was the 19th century writer and traveller, William Thackery, whose name is recalled in a plaque on the hotel wall, while Lismore Castle and town also had a long association with Fred Astaire and his sister, Adele, who married a Cavendish.

Details: Sherry FitzGerald Reynolds, 058-23444