Brennan brothers' Kenmare hotels have July 6 'date with destiny' for best and final bids at €20.5m guide

Keen interest in Francis Brennan and John Brennan's Park Hotel  Kenmare being brought to a head by At Their Service selling agents CBRE 

Going, going....Brothers John and Francis Brennan at the Park Hotel Kenmare, due to be sold post-July 6 'best and final bids', along with The Lansdowne. Local, Irish, US, Asian and other international  interest has been shown says CBRE's John Hughes

KENMARE'S high-end hotels, The Park Kenmare and the adjacent Lansdowne — both controlled by hoteliers Francis and John Brennan — are to go to a ‘best before’ bids sale deadline for offers by July 6, with considerable interest shown in both to date, with a combined €20.5m price guide via agents CBRE.

Project Halo Kenmare hotels The Park Kenmare and The Lansdowne Kenmare for sale with CBRE for a combined €20.3 million

Viewings at both have been very active, according to John Hughes of CBRE, with inquiries from US, other international operators, Irish and local parties with on-site visits continuing throughout this month in advance of the July 6 cut-off for offers.

The trophy prize will be the 46-bed Park, on over seven acres and where indicative plans have been drawn up by the Brennans for additional bedrooms and suites (available through the sale data room but not gone for planning permission) which has piqued additional interest from the strongest would-be new operators of The Park.

The Lansdowne Kenmare has a €3.5m guide

Sale price guide for The Park is €17m, while the 28-bed upgraded Lansdowne is guided at €3.5m.

Mr Hughes declined to comment on media reports of a prior expressed interest by very active hotel buyers Stanley Quek and Peng Loh, whose Mayrange company has been on a recent buying spree of Irish luxury hotels.

TCD-educated Mr Quek and his Singapore-based partner Peng Loh already own the five-star Sheen Falls in Kenmare nearby, acquired five years ago for €18m as well as the Ring of Kerry Golf Club, bought for €5m last autumn.

Mr Quek also has extensive hotel interests in Sydney, Australia: in Ireland he has a Dublin property portfolio including the 18th century Trinity Townhouse. The duo’s collection of Irish hotels has seen over €75m invested in the past five years — and is ongoing.

East meets West? The owners of East Cork's five star Castlemartyr Resort have shown interest in The Park Kenamre

They also own Castlemartyr Resort in east Cork, bought two years ago for €20m and with total investment there rising to c €30m with a just-awarded Michelin-star restaurant. They are also taking over Wicklow’s Tulfarris Hotel & Golf Resort in a c €20m deal with the Prem Group.

The key attraction of The Park Kenmare for the various interest parties is its heritage, reputation and location, according to CBRE’s Paul Collins and John Hughes.

The west coast has top international hotels like Ashford Castle and Dromoland and there’s an opening for The Park to join that elite sector, Mr Hughes indicates, noting there are a number of superior hotels in Kerry’s Killarney, but adds “in this case there is also the ‘Kenmare factor’”.

With a sale deadline looming for the Brennan brothers, the market and locals alike will be curious to see what premium price is put on The Park, on the buyer profile and future plans for it — and, whether the two in the ‘Project Halo’ collection, as dubbed by CBRE, are bought together or separately.

Halo effect on Francis Brennan's The Park Kenmare

Hospitality sources expect there to be keen interest in them as separate lots, the five-star Park being the trophy and the four-star Lansdowne — set across the road from The Park, as an upgraded entity.

It’s likely vendors Francis and John Brennan would favour a joint sale for ease and continuity (although they only bought The Lansdowne in 2020, out of receivership).

An option for some buyers might be to buy the two together, work on plans to add further bedrooms and suites in a sympathetic manner to the manor, and then consider selling on the little sibling boutique 28-bed Lansdowne hotel (now in the Blue Book collection) at a later date.

The five-star Park is on over seven acres by Kenmare Golf Club, overlooks the Kenmare River, and is a member of the Relais & Chateaux association of luxury hotels and restaurants.

Revolving doors?

The imminent sale of The Park will end a 40-plus year link for co-owner Francis Brennan, the celebrity hotelier who took it over from Dutchman Ernst Weeland who had bought the CIE-owned Great Southern Railway hotel back in 1977 for £147,000.

Set on private wooded grounds, the acclaimed Park Kenmare dates to 1897 and adjoins the local golf club. While it has just 46 rooms and suites, it carries premium prices, with quoted rooms for June averaging €555 a night.

Iconic in the region, and ‘haloed’ by its care by Francis Brennan, now aged in his 70s, The Park is owned in a three-way partnership along with John Brennan and investor Fergal Naughton, chair of Glen Dimplex.

Mr Naughton invested in Kenmare after the planned sales of 18 luxury apartments hit hard times for the Brennans in the aftermath of the property crash and Celtic Tiger’s demise.

Co-presenter with Francis Brennan in the top TV series At Your Service, younger Brennan sibling John Brennan and his wife Gwen are to continue to own and run the Kenmare river-fronting Dromquinna Manor as a hotel/function venue and glamping business.

DETAILS: CBRE 01-6185500