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kilkee bay hotel

rainbowdash

Up for auction starting at around €300k, what do people think it will sell for?

I suppose outside of July and August it will be empty most nights except a few weekends.

Also for auction the Ashford in Ennis starting at about €200k+, and the Shannon Shamrock in bunratty is for sale, no idea what it's going for.

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burnsey1987

Red Clover wrote: »

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).

Yes, I remember driving past the Kilkee Bay on a (very) brief visit to the town last year. Very few cars in the car park and didn't look like there was much happening. The place certainly did develop a bad rep in the last couple of years. I went for food there once a while back. Neither the quality of service or the general appearance of the place impressed me much.

I worked in the Ocean Cove back in the summer of 2004 (does not feel like that long ago) and while it was always busy back then, it really was a badly run place. It would be nice if someone did buy it and got serious about making it a success, as the potential is there. Just reading about a fire there? Is that true? How come I never heard anything about that?

That's good news about Halpin's. I just hope that the building hasn't deteriorated too much in all that time it's been closed (about 6/7 years now???)

Red Clover

The hotel business is different to the holiday home business and a properly run and marketed hotel will thrive wherever they are. See Spanish Point with two large hotels open all the year round and with up to 100 permanent staff each.
The old Halpin's Hotel was in reasonably good condition and the new owners are spending quite a bit on renovating it. New beds, carpets, kitchens, entrance re-jigged, in fact a complete make-over. Hopefully it will do well.
While the new hotel is good news it doesn't cancel the bad news of the three largest hotels closed, Ocean Cove, Kilkee Bay and Marine The two last are waiting for the Bord Pleanala decision on the Ocean Cove. If it allows the conversion of the hotel to apartments, which will be sold on, you can expect the other two to jump in with their plans for apartments. The planners will find it difficult to refuse if they have already allowed the Ocean Cove to go down that road.

godfrey

Red Clover wrote: »

The planners will find it difficult to refuse if they have already allowed the Ocean Cove to go down that road.

What's this based on? Is there a policy you're aware of, or are you speculating?

Maybe planners could decide there are then enough apartments, and still not enough hotel rooms.

g

Athdara

Kilkee Bay Hotel - SOLD sign went up last week. Nobody knows for sure who has bought it. Rumours last week were Logue family who have hotels in Spanish Point & Lauinch but they are refurbishing Halpins Hotel so I can't see them buying here aswell. Another rumour has slgrouo with a consortium of hotels has bought it. That suggests Logues to me maybe. Sure who knows. Hopefully it will be reopened and not allowed to fall into disrepair as our town is dying.

Red Clover

Planning authorities are inclined to favour the applicant in a planning application. In the case of the Ocean Cove Hotel it is mentioned in the statutory Town Development Plan that in should be retained as a hotel. It is also mentioned by name in the study brought out by Clare Co Council "Towards a Better Kilkee" in which it recommends the reopening as hotel because of it's location etc. If Bord Pleanála over rides both these documents it is open season for any other hotel establishment to take the easy and more profitable option of converting to apartments and sell them off. Hotels take years and a lot of hard work to regain the investment whereas selling off apartments is quicker and more profitable. There is one piece of good news. The For Sale sign on the Kilkee Bay Hotel has a SOLD sign across it. Word on the street has it that the hoteliers who bought Halpin's Hotel (now called KILKEE TOWN HOUSE HOTEL) are the people involved in the Kilkee Bay Hotel. Things may be looking up.

JCX BXC

Red Clover wrote: »

The For Sale sign on the Kilkee Bay Hotel has a SOLD sign across it. Word on the street has it that the hoteliers who bought Halpin's Hotel (now called KILKEE TOWN HOUSE HOTEL) are the people involved in the Kilkee Bay Hotel. Things may be looking up.

Fairly solid word about that, I just find it bizzare that they'd reopen Halpins and then reopen Kilkee Bay. Perhaps they plan to do something else with Kilkee Bay?

Also, does anyone remember the exact year Halpins closed?

Red Clover

Kilkee Town House Hotel is about to open. An awful lot of renovating has gone on over the last 4 months. Knowing the new owners I expect it to be very successful. As for Halpin's closure it is hard to be sure because due to the then owners concentration on a new Dublin development on the Merrion Road the hotel in Kilkee opened rather erratically. It is approximately 12 years fully closed.
The SOLD sign is still up on Kilkee Bay Hotel. I am still not sure who the new owners are. Hopefully it is real hoteliers rather than the chancer speculators who have invested in hotels around the country and run them into the ground to get their investment back. It does not surprise me if the same group has bought the two hotels. They service two different markets. The Kilkee Bay Hotel with 50 rooms will go for the bus touring market while Kilkee Town House Hotel with 20 rooms will probably go for the independent traveller such as the Failte Ireland's definition, the Culturally Curious. The Kilkee Bay Hotel may not open this year. Apart from renovations it is too late for a major marketing campaign and tour operators have already decided on itineraries and published brochures. There is a huge opening for hotels in Kilkee to take bus tours. If the Ocean Cove opens as a hotel it too would do very well.

JCX BXC

Kilkee Bay hotel reopening in "early 2019". Training programme beginning in September associated with it:

Red Clover

Good news about staff recruitment. It is a good sign when the hotel owners are setting up a training programme early in the year.

Radio5

Is the Ocean Cove still empty?

JCX BXC

Radio5 wrote: »

Is the Ocean Cove still empty?

Yup. At this stage it would need massive infrastructural work before reopening.

Red Clover

Unfortunately it will not open as a hotel again. A developer has got planning permission to turn it into a block of apartments (as though there was not enough of them in Kilkee already). The developer got planning permission from Bord Pleanála despite having it refused by Clare Co Council and against the advice of it's own inspector and despite a very large number of local objectors who claimed it should re-open as a hotel. It was trashed last year and every bathroom/toilet/bedroom was destroyed. The insurance claim will be astronomical!. Bord Pleanála doesn't have much credibility in Kilkee.

Jim Martin

If objectors have the time & the money to do it, they should go to appeal, neighbours of mine did & won but it's quite an ordeal!

Cookiemunster

Jim Martin wrote: »

If objectors have the time & the money to do it, they should go to appeal, neighbours of mine did & won but it's quite an ordeal!

Only a judicial review in the courts can overturn an ABP decision.

Red Clover

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Only a judicial review in the courts can overturn an ABP decision.

Yes, you are right and a judicial review can only be taken on a point of law not on the planning decision. In cases like the Ocean Cove, Bord Pleanála should be obliged to explain in detail how it arrived at the decision. In this case, of the three board members who made the decision, two voted to overturn the Council's decision and the third voted to adhere to the council's decision and refuse planning. The explanation given was yes/no to objections raided even though the Bord Pleanála inspector who visited the site recommended refusing planning. The two who voted against their own inspector had no knowledge of the town or tourism requirements. There is a lot of public anger in Kilkee because of this.

chuckles30

Looks like work has started on the Ocean Cove - I noticed a lot of doors and windows overlooking the beach open there at the weekend and what appeared to be a Site Safety notice up near the building too

Red Clover

Yes, you are right. There is a lot of activity on the site at the moment. I hope they do a nice job and it it will not be just thrown together.

Muscles Schultz

What’s the latest with Kilkee bay hotel?

JCX BXC

Muscles Schultz wrote: »

What’s the latest with Kilkee bay hotel?

Opening in spring.

chuckles30

It has been bought by the people that own the Bellbridge in Spanish Point