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kilkee bay hotel

124

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  • Registered Users Posts: 500 ✭✭✭JOSman


    Don't forget Hickey's. I like that place, nice staff and the food is great.

    Heading down now.


  • Registered Users Posts: 61 ✭✭Red Clover


    JOSman wrote: »
    Don't forget Hickey's. I like that place, nice staff and the food is great.

    Heading down now.

    Of course I like Hickie's too but I think the debate on this thread is about Kilkee hotels. Ten years ago there were five reasonable sized hotels, Marine, Ocean Cove, Kilkee Bay, Halpin's and of course Stella Maris and all were doing reasonably well. Once the 10 year tax break ran out the owners were more interested in other tax break opportunities elsewhere. This left Kilkee with some fine hotel premises but little in the way of active hoteliers. If that could be reversed it would make a huge difference to Kilkee but also to the Loop head and West Clare area economies.


  • Registered Users Posts: 121 ✭✭Lobby Con Shine


    Red Clover wrote: »
    Of course I like Hickie's too but I think the debate on this thread is about Kilkee hotels. Ten years ago there were five reasonable sized hotels, Marine, Ocean Cove, Kilkee Bay, Halpin's and of course Stella Maris and all were doing reasonably well. Once the 10 year tax break ran out the owners were more interested in other tax break opportunities elsewhere. This left Kilkee with some fine hotel premises but little in the way of active hoteliers. If that could be reversed it would make a huge difference to Kilkee but also to the Loop head and West Clare area economies.


    Spot on.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,105 ✭✭✭cocoman


    Any update on the Kilkee Bay Hotel?
    Has anyone been there lately?


  • Registered Users Posts: 500 ✭✭✭JOSman


    Red Clover wrote: »
    Of course I like Hickie's too but I think the debate on this thread is about Kilkee hotels. Ten years ago there were five reasonable sized hotels, Marine, Ocean Cove, Kilkee Bay, Halpin's and of course Stella Maris and all were doing reasonably well. Once the 10 year tax break ran out the owners were more interested in other tax break opportunities elsewhere. This left Kilkee with some fine hotel premises but little in the way of active hoteliers. If that could be reversed it would make a huge difference to Kilkee but also to the Loop head and West Clare area economies.

    What size is a hotel in your book?

    16 bedrooms, restaurant and bar is not a hotel?


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  • Registered Users Posts: 61 ✭✭Red Clover


    cocoman wrote: »
    Any update on the Kilkee Bay Hotel?
    Has anyone been there lately?

    Kilkee Bay Hotel is open for business. It has been leased, we are led to believe, by Michael B Lynch of West County Hotel fame. Already is has more of a 'cut' of hotel about it than previously. Hopefully with the experience of the new management it will become a welcome addition to the accommodation stock in Kilkee.


  • Registered Users Posts: 61 ✭✭Red Clover


    JOSman wrote: »
    What size is a hotel in your book?

    16 bedrooms, restaurant and bar is not a hotel?

    A hotel is defined by Failte Ireland registration and the stars (1 to 5) are allocated by that body. In a welcome development Failte Ireland has changed the criteria for B&Bs starting in 2016. The previous standards were not about service but about the physical structure. Now the emphasis will be on the level of visitor satisfaction. Maybe some of the B & B owners will come back in the Failte Ireland fold now that approval will be less restrictive.


  • Registered Users Posts: 85 ✭✭Sully777


    Red Clover wrote: »
    Kilkee Bay Hotel is open for business. It has been leased, we are led to believe, by Michael B Lynch of West County Hotel fame. Already is has more of a 'cut' of hotel about it than previously. Hopefully with the experience of the new management it will become a welcome addition to the accommodation stock in Kilkee.

    Unfortunately more like the kiss of death given his track record in the Hotel industry.


  • Registered Users Posts: 61 ✭✭Red Clover


    Sully777 wrote: »
    Unfortunately more like the kiss of death given his track record in the Hotel industry.

    Well, we will give him the benefit of the doubt for now. Hopefully we will be surprised.


  • Registered Users Posts: 121 ✭✭Lobby Con Shine


    Any word on what's happening with the Ocean Cove Hotel?

    From what I have heard, Clare Co Co, thankfully, put the kibosh on the recent investors' plans to turn it into apartments. Has the story moved on from there?

    Also, has the Kilkee Bay Hotel opened yet? If so, what are the reports like?


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  • Registered Users Posts: 61 ✭✭Red Clover


    Kilkee Bay Hotel is open and flourishing. There is at least one tour bus there every night. Passing today (Whit Bank Holiday Monday) the car park is full to capacity. So it seems, at last, somebody is doing something right.
    The Ocean Cove is up for sale again and was advertised in the Irish Times last week. Hopefully a proper hotelier will purchase and develop it to its full potential.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,407 ✭✭✭finbarrk


    Sully777 wrote: »
    Unfortunately more like the kiss of death given his track record in the Hotel industry.

    It wasn't the Hotel industry that led to his downfall.


  • Registered Users Posts: 121 ✭✭Lobby Con Shine


    Does anyone know what's happening with Murphy's Pub in the Square in Kilkee?

    It's had a "For Sale" sign for several years.

    Does it still have a licence or is it going to be knocked down and developed into apartments like everything else in the place?


  • Registered Users Posts: 61 ✭✭Red Clover


    Murphy's Bar is still up for sale. The Commissioners for Donations and Charitable Bequests have the sale of it and my understanding is that they don't realise that we have had a serious drop in property prices and they are still looking for the same 2006 price (which was exorbitant even by 2006 standards). I suppose someone is sitting in an office in Dublin and doesn't have a clue where the business is or what the property is like. I believe it still has a licence but the building must be in bad condition. It hasn't opened as a pub since the 1950s. The bar was built in the late 19th century and it remains the same to this day with all the old fittings and counter, the non-existent toilets and the ladies snug.If someone could buy it at the right price it would attract a huge clientele (similar to the Greyhound Bar in Kilkee). It is a listed building so it can't be knocked down. The only problem is that it will probably fall down.


  • Registered Users Posts: 121 ✭✭Lobby Con Shine


    I wasn't back west over the Christmas. A few questions for those on here who seem to be knowledgeable about these things:-

    1. Did the Kilkee Bay Hotel open over the Christmas?

    2. What's happening with the Ocean Cove Hotel? Who are the new owners and are they going to open a hotel soon?

    3. What's happening with Halpin's Hotel?

    4. Was the Marine Hotel open over the Christmas? What's happening there?

    In case you are wondering, I am not a hotelier competitor trying to sneakily get information, I just happen to think there is a real market for a family run hotel in the town - there's been a lot of shadow boxing and talk but so far only the Kilkee Bay has been taken over and the Stella Maris is the only hotel open all year round. If I was a hotel manager (which I am not) with a few quid (which I don't have!) and looking for a fresh start, I would definitely look at opening a small hotel in the town.

    The same applies to chefs. A decently-run restaurant would make proper money.


  • Registered Users Posts: 61 ✭✭Red Clover


    Lobby Con Shine, i will try and answer your questions as accurately as I can:
    1. No, Kilkee Bay Hotel did not open for Christmas. I believe they will be re-opening on St Patrick's Day next for the season.
    2. The Ocean Cove Hotel is up for sale again. I am led to believe a well-known hotelier is interested. Let's hope so.
    3. Halpin's Hotel is a conundrum. It was for sale in the last Allsop auction but was withdrawn a day or two before. Either it was sold privately or else Pat Halpin managed to get one over on the bank. The hotel was for sale but not the derelict building next to it, known as Woulfe's, and owned by Halpin's Hotel. I was told (I don't believe everything I am told) that the two premises are in hock to two different banks so that is why the two buildings are being sold separately. It would be good to see something happen. Pat Halpin was a very fine hotelier. His expansion in the property market in Dublin dragged down his two well-run hotels.
    4. The Marine Hotel did not open at all this year. The owner Pat Hoare says he will sell if he gets the right price. If it says closed it will never get the 'right' price. It is an old building and will deteriorate if left closed for too long.
    5. You are right about the business opportunity for a good hotelier to run a hotel in Kilkee. The emphasis is on a good hotelier. We have had too may fly-by-nights. You are also correct about the opening for a good restaurant. There is a premises in O Curry St which has planning permission to open as a restaurant ( Italian chef from Galway?). This expired earlier this year but re-applied for renewal of the permission which I believe was granted. This would be a good development if it gets off the ground.


  • Registered Users Posts: 121 ✭✭Lobby Con Shine


    Red Clover wrote: »
    Lobby Con Shine, i will try and answer your questions as accurately as I can:
    1. No, Kilkee Bay Hotel did not open for Christmas. I believe they will be re-opening on St Patrick's Day next for the season.
    2. The Ocean Cove Hotel is up for sale again. I am led to believe a well-known hotelier is interested. Let's hope so.
    3. Halpin's Hotel is a conundrum. It was for sale in the last Allsop auction but was withdrawn a day or two before. Either it was sold privately or else Pat Halpin managed to get one over on the bank. The hotel was for sale but not the derelict building next to it, known as Woulfe's, and owned by Halpin's Hotel. I was told (I don't believe everything I am told) that the two premises are in hock to two different banks so that is why the two buildings are being sold separately. It would be good to see something happen. Pat Halpin was a very fine hotelier. His expansion in the property market in Dublin dragged down his two well-run hotels.
    4. The Marine Hotel did not open at all this year. The owner Pat Hoare says he will sell if he gets the right price. If it says closed it will never get the 'right' price. It is an old building and will deteriorate if left closed for too long.
    5. You are right about the business opportunity for a good hotelier to run a hotel in Kilkee. The emphasis is on a good hotelier. We have had too may fly-by-nights. You are also correct about the opening for a good restaurant. There is a premises in O Curry St which has planning permission to open as a restaurant ( Italian chef from Galway?). This expired earlier this year but re-applied for renewal of the permission which I believe was granted. This would be a good development if it gets off the ground.


    Thanks for the update.

    So, aside from the Kilkee Bay Hotel, there's been little movement for several years on the other hotels which are lying idle. That is a shame.

    The state of play with the Ocean Cove is particularly disappointing. It requires serious investment but it could be one of the most impressive and imposing hotels on the Wild Atlantic Way if done correctly.


  • Registered Users Posts: 806 ✭✭✭Jim Martin


    I visit Kilkee regularly (weekly) & I'd say that in the winter there is just not the business these days (even in the summer, if the weather's bad, there isn't either!). The Stella Maris just about seems to be holding it's own & the Diamond Rocks restaurant does very good business with it seems, mainly locals on Sunday afternoons but they're not open in the week in the winter. Halpins is beginning to look very sorry for itself & is just adding to the general air of decreptitude which, unfortunately hangs around the town with all the closed hotels/restaurants!


  • Registered Users Posts: 61 ✭✭Red Clover


    Jim, I can't agree with you that there is not enough business for a hotel(s) in Kilkee or anywhere else. Hotels don't depend on the locals to stay in their property. A well run marketing campaign will fill a hotel no matter how remote. Some of the busiest hotels in the country are in areas with very little local activity such Kelly's of Rosslare, Inchidoney Island Hotel in west Cork, Sandhill Hotel in Rossnowlagh in Donegal. A good hotelier will fill his hotel whatever the season. In Kilkee there is much to do for the winter: birdwatching in Poulnasherry Bay or Ross Bay, cycling on Loophead cycle-way, many official walks either along the cliffs or in bogs (Tullaher), or follow the Heritage Trail for which Loophead won gold for the best presentation of heritage in the world at the recent hosting of the world travel fair in London. There is business out there but it takes a good person to bring it in.


  • Registered Users Posts: 947 ✭✭✭Tom44


    Red Clover wrote: »
    Jim, I can't agree with you that there is not enough business for a hotel(s) in Kilkee or anywhere else. Hotels don't depend on the locals to stay in their property. A well run marketing campaign will fill a hotel no matter how remote. Some of the busiest hotels in the country are in areas with very little local activity such Kelly's of Rosslare, Inchidoney Island Hotel in west Cork, Sandhill Hotel in Rossnowlagh in Donegal. A good hotelier will fill his hotel whatever the season. In Kilkee there is much to do for the winter: birdwatching in Poulnasherry Bay or Ross Bay, cycling on Loophead cycle-way, many official walks either along the cliffs or in bogs (Tullaher), or follow the Heritage Trail for which Loophead won gold for the best presentation of heritage in the world at the recent hosting of the world travel fair in London. There is business out there but it takes a good person to bring it in.
    Totally agree.
    But unfortunately it would need money, most banks will not take that risk without a heafty guarantor.
    So the hotel businesses are normaly only available to the already established chains.
    Only a highly viable hotel is of interest to the banks.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 477 ✭✭blowin3


    Red Clover wrote: »
    Jim, I can't agree with you that there is not enough business for a hotel(s) in Kilkee or anywhere else. Hotels don't depend on the locals to stay in their property. A well run marketing campaign will fill a hotel no matter how remote. Some of the busiest hotels in the country are in areas with very little local activity such Kelly's of Rosslare, Inchidoney Island Hotel in west Cork, Sandhill Hotel in Rossnowlagh in Donegal. A good hotelier will fill his hotel whatever the season. In Kilkee there is much to do for the winter: birdwatching in Poulnasherry Bay or Ross Bay, cycling on Loophead cycle-way, many official walks either along the cliffs or in bogs (Tullaher), or follow the Heritage Trail for which Loophead won gold for the best presentation of heritage in the world at the recent hosting of the world travel fair in London. There is business out there but it takes a good person to bring it in.
    Love your optimism Red Clover. But have you ever noticed the good weather West Clare enjoys. I can't imagine any of the out door pursuits you suggest being enjoyable in these fine winter days. But hey each to their own!


  • Registered Users Posts: 121 ✭✭Lobby Con Shine


    blowin3 wrote: »
    Love your optimism Red Clover. But have you ever noticed the good weather West Clare enjoys. I can't imagine any of the out door pursuits you suggest being enjoyable in these fine winter days. But hey each to their own!


    The weather in West Clare is no different to other counties on the West Coast. There are dozens of hotels that operate all year round from Cork to Donegal.

    It is true that cycling tours are not feasible but presumably hotels bring in most money from May to September.

    As for the winter months, a good hotelier will get creative.


  • Registered Users Posts: 61 ✭✭Red Clover


    blowin3 wrote: »
    Love your optimism Red Clover. But have you ever noticed the good weather West Clare enjoys. I can't imagine any of the out door pursuits you suggest being enjoyable in these fine winter days. But hey each to their own!
    See you on the Cliff Walk later on today where we will see dozens and dozens of others enjoying the bracing air and, yes, a lively breeze. At Ross Bay literally hundreds of birders from November to March are out with their binoculars. Loop head is a flyway for migrating birds north and south and while I don't understand the obsession with watching birds flying overhead I respect their enthusiasm.


  • Registered Users Posts: 477 ✭✭blowin3


    I will pass on your invitation if you don't mind lol. But as I said each to their own!


  • Registered Users Posts: 18,069 ✭✭✭✭JCX BXC


    Looks like they're re-roofing it again. When's it opening?


  • Registered Users Posts: 972 ✭✭✭Palmach


    Carnacalla wrote: »
    Looks like they're re-roofing it again. When's it opening?

    May weekend is the date. Or so we are told.


  • Registered Users Posts: 61 ✭✭Red Clover


    Yes, I have heard May week-end as an opening date. Why the secrecy? If they want business the world should know about an opening date. It seems they had hoped to open for St Patrick's week-end and through Easter but bookings were not too good. To get business off season proper packages have to be put together. In the case of the Kilkee Bay Hotel there is a very fine swimming pool and gym beside it on the same grounds. This premises is for sale at a very low price. Anyone serious about off-season business would acquire this premises and use it as a draw over the winter months.The reroofing is taking place at the side of the hotel. Last year the front was re-roofed. I am told that the inside, especially the bedrooms, could do with a good overhaul. There are three other hotels in Kilkee making no effort at opening. In fact the Ocean Cove Hotel had a notice in the local Clare Champion newspaper, recently, requesting planning to convert it into an apartment block. The company which posted the notice does not exist (not on CRO website) and Clare County Council planning section has not received any planning application. Obviously someone flying a kite to test both local opinion and Clare Co Council planning guidelines.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 212 ✭✭burnsey1987


    Apologies for pulling up a near-2-year-old thread but any updates on the Kilkee Bay and/or Ocean Cove? I haven't really been in Kilkee much in the last while and haven't heard anything myself...


  • Registered Users Posts: 61 ✭✭Red Clover


    Unfortunately there is no good news about either hotel. The Ocean Cove, GFT Investments, attempt to convert this premises to an apartment block is at present with Bord Pleanala. There is huge opposition locally to this planning application. This is a fine building in one of the best locations in the country. Kilkee does not have a decent sized hotel to take a bus load of tourists and many tour operators have expressed surprise that such a central holiday resort on the WAW has two suitable premises, closed. The Kilkee Bay Hotel did not open last year and is now up for sale. The price (over €700K) won't encourage many takers, half that would be enough, because to re-open and make a success will take a lot of money, effort and especially hotelier know-how. It had got such a bad name before it closed that it will be hard to get it's credibility back. That is the problem when non-hotelier speculators get their hands on a premises, the trousering of cash is the only criteria they use. One piece of good news is that the well-known Logue family from Lahinch have bought the old Halpin's Hotel, re-named Kilkee Town House Hotel, and are in the process of renovating it. They expect to be open next month. It has 20 bedrooms so it does not make up for the two that are closed (total: 120 rooms).


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  • Registered Users Posts: 686 ✭✭✭Running Balance


    Good news about halpins - I remember that place being packed in the 90s..

    I guess the number of holiday homes in the town take away from the hotel business..

    Are the caravan park as busy as they used to be?


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