A major refinancing and an opportunity to buy two city centre regional hotels have provided a boost to Ireland’s hotel market at a time when there are concerns over both falling U.S. visitors and the ongoing dispute over the capacity cap at Dublin Airport.

Provincial Irish hotel investment portfolio Project Abbey has been brought to market via agent JLL, comprising two regional city centre hotels — the Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel and the Absolute Hotel in Limerick — spanning a total of 217 keys, plus a multistorey car park.

JLL highlighted development and revenue opportunities, notably for the 725-space Ormonde Street car park in central Kilkenny. Annual portfolio revenue exceeded €15M in 2024, and JLL said that in Kilkenny enhancements could include redeveloping the former spa and nightclub areas, and in Limerick there is scope to expand upon the Absolute Hotel’s 99 rooms through internal reconfiguration or new-build extension.

Limerick’s ongoing regeneration, the upcoming Opera Centre development, and the city’s proximity to the 2027 Ryder Cup venue Adare Manor should also boost the city’s hotel market, where RevPAR grew by 3% in 2024 according to JLL.

Meanwhile, Parknasilla Resort & Spa in Kerry, owned by billionaire Jacqui Safra, has secured a new €20M loan facility to refinance existing debt from UK-based investment company Topland Group, secured against the hotel and resort. Safra purchased the four-star hotel and resort in 2012 for around €11M with local businessman Tony Daly

The financing deal reflected Topland’s “continued conviction in asset-backed private credit and our appetite to support high-quality sponsors across a range of sectors,” Topland Group Chairman and Chief Executive Sol Zakay said in a statement.

The Parknasilla resort, situated close to the village of Sneem, has 88 bedrooms, 24 lodges and 38 three-bedroom villas.

Total transaction volume for 2024 in the Dublin hotel market was €890M, with a further €30M of hotel development site sales and €60M of hostel transactions also closing. A total of 612 new hotel rooms were delivered in Dublin last year, taking total room stock to nearly 27,500.

An additional 1,500 rooms are due to be delivered in 2025, which CBRE predicted will have implications for room rates in the year ahead, while the adviser forecasts transaction volumes will approach €800M in 2025 as prime leased hotel yields compress and stabilise at less than 5%.

On Thursday 15 May, Bisnow is holding its Ireland Hotel Outlook event at The College Green Hotel in Dublin. Details and information on how to book places are available here.