Hotel group Dalata has said the Dublin market was "very strong" during the second half of the year, with revenue per available room at its hotels up 9.5 per cent for the year.
The group has also announced it has signed a deal with Northern Ireland developer McAleer & Rushe for a new 250-bed Maldron hotel in Glasgow.
The company, which is the largest operator of hotels in the State, said trading in the final four months of the year has been as expected, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) would be in line with market expectations.
Outside Dublin, Dalata said its regional Irish portfolio “continues to be very strong” with an increase of 8.7 per cent in revenue per available room for the 11 months to the end of November.
Growth in room revenue at Dalata’s London hotels slowed in the second half of the year, leading to lower growth in its Britain and Northern Ireland portfolio. However, the year to date growth in the UK at the end of November was still the strongest of its three regions at 10.4 per cent.
Dalata deputy chief executive Dermot Crowley said 2017 had been "another very successful year" for the firm.
"Our hotel portfolio continues to perform very strongly across the all of our regions. We are very happy to have secured the effective freehold interests of additional rooms at both Clayton Hotel Cardiff Lane and Clayton Hotel Liffey Valley.
Strong relationship
“We are delighted to have entered into an agreement to lease a newly-constructed Maldron hotel in Glasgow. We have a very strong relationship with McAleer & Rushe, who are currently building our new hotels in Belfast, Newcastle and Charlemont, Dublin.
“Today’s announcement brings the number of UK hotels in our development pipeline to five, with a total of circa 1,350 rooms. Given the pipeline of hotels due to open in the next year and the continued strength of trading in our three regions, we look forward to 2018 with confidence.”
Hotel LaTour Birmingham and the Clarion Hotel Liffey Valley in Dublin have both been successfully rebranded as Clayton hotels. There are now 19 Clayton hotels in Ireland and Britain, with more than 4,800 rooms.
The company said an additional 35 rooms, a new restaurant and refurbished meeting facilities were completed at the Clayton Hotel Dublin Airport in November. An additional 106 bedrooms are on course to open in May 2018.
Construction is coming to a conclusion at a 237-room Maldron Hotel Belfast City, which is now scheduled to open in mid-March.
Extensions
Construction continues at the Maldron Hotel Kevin Street, Dublin, as well as the Clayton Hotel Charlemont, Dublin, which are scheduled to open in June and November 2018 respectively.Work has also begun on the 164 room Maldron Hotel South Mall in Cork during November, and is scheduled to be completed in December 2018.
In Dublin, construction has recently begun on extensions to the Clayton Hotel, Ballsbridge (31 rooms), and the Maldron Hotel Parnell Square, Dublin (53 rooms), which will open in August 2018 and December 2018 respectively.
Construction at the Maldron Hotel Sandyroad, Galway is “well under way” where Dalata is constructing an additional 64 rooms, new meeting facilities as well as refurbishing all existing bedrooms and the public areas. The project will be completed by June 2018.
