Dalata, Ireland's largest hotel group, has made its first move of 2016 by agreeing to purchase the Clarion Hotel Sligo for €13.1 million.
The deal, subject to approval from the Competition Commission, is almost double the guide price from when it was placed on the market in October last year for €7 million.
Dalata currently manages the four-star resort, a former mental hospital in Sligo town. Dalata will invest €750,000 refurbishing the property and rename it under its Clayton brand, as it has done with a number of its hotels over the last year, including the former Bewleys Hotel in Leopardstown, Dublin.
Situated on 5.5 acres, facilities at the hotel include 162 bedrooms, including 89 suites, bar, restaurant, extensive meeting & conference facilities, leisure centre and swimming pool.
Dermot Crowley of Dalata said: “We are very familiar with this hotel as we have been managing the property on behalf of the receiver, Crowe Horwath since April 2013.
"The hotel is benefiting from the recovery of both the local and national economies. We believe that the introduction of the Clayton brand will further enhance the offering at the hotel and we are very excited about its addition to our portfolio of Clayton hotels in Ireland.”
Originally built in 1847 as St Columba’s Lunatic Asylum, it housed up to 1,100 patients until it closed in 1992 before being developed in 2005 at a cost of €45 million.
