The four-star River Lee hotel in Cork city is up for sale. The hotel is currently owned by one of the country’s largest property development companies, O’Callaghan Properties.

It is reported that Estate agents Savills have been appointed to handle the sale of the Cork hotel which was previously known as the Jurys Cork Hotel. Apart from a great location on the banks of the River Lee, the hotel has 182 bedrooms, a great Fitness Centre and Urban Escape Spa. It contains the popular Weir Bistro and a well-known local bar and an underground car park. The hotel has 29 years left to run on a lease to PV Doyle Hotels which began in 2006. The rent of €2,040,000 is subject to reviews linked to the consumer price index.

Over the last 25 years O’Callaghan Properties has completed a string of retail developments including the Liffey Valley shopping centre in Dublin as well as the Paul Street shopping centre and the Opera Lane retail complex in Cork. Last week O’Callaghan Properties issued a statement explaining its decision to sell the flagship hotel investment. “There is an appetite in the market at present for good quality property investments which are well let with long leases and good covenants.... Click to read more about hotels in Cork

The Carlton Hotel in Kinsale was placed into receivership at the end of September. The four-star hotel is located on 90 acres of wooded parkland and overlooks Oyster Haven Bay on the coast of County Cork just 30km south of the city itself. Kieran Wallace, a KPMG receiver, was appointed by Bank of Scotland as the receiver to the hotel. Staff were informed at a meeting held in the hotel at the end of last week.

In spite of this news the receiver insisted the hotel would continue to trade as normal and the jobs of the 95 staff employed by the hotel would be protected.  ”The jobs of the 95 employees will be protected and the hotel will honour all bookings that they have received and continue to trade as normal,” said Mr Wallace.

It has been reported that the hotel will continue to trade under the Carlton name but it will no longer be part of the Carlton group. The other eight hotels in the group are understood to be operated independently and they all have different ownership arrangements. They are therefore expected to be unaffected by the receivership of the Kinsale hotel .

The hotel manager... Click to read more about hotels in Cork

The asking price of the four-star Blarney Hotel Golf and Spa resort on the outskirts of Cork city has been reportedly dropped to €7 million in order to tempt potential buyers into completing a purchase. Located just 12 km to the northwest of Cork city, the project is estimated to have originally cost in the region of €25 million to develop. In 2009 AIB was owed some €20 million by the developer when the bank appointed Billy O’Riordan of PWC as receiver. At that time a price-tag of around €15 million was put on this Cork resort.

As well as the four-star hotel the resort boasts the only 18 hole golf course in Europe to be designed by golfer John Daly. Set in almost 170 acres in the beautiful wooded Shournagh valley, the course also includes 38 two-bedroom golf lodges. Apart from its proximity to Cork city, the resort is only 4 kilometers from Blarney village which attracts some 400,000 visitors a year to the famous Blarney castle and stone. So it is well placed to take advantage of these tourists as well as the recent reported upturn in global golf tourism.

The current operator, Windward Management, is reported to be... Click to read more about hotels in Cork

The ferry service between Cork and Swansea looks to have come to an end this week as a wind-up order was granted by the High Court on Thursday. The service was originally suspended in November of  last year and at that time rising fuel costs were blamed for mothballing the service. There was a hope that the Cork to Swansea service could resume operations in the Spring of 2012. However, on Thursday afternoon, the owners of the Cork-Swansea Fastnet Line ferry, West Cork Tourism Co-Operative Society Limited, confirmed the ending of the service with a loss of 78 jobs.

Chairman of the West Cork Tourism Co-Operative, Noel Murphy, said that in spite of all efforts by staff and supporters, the “vital piece of tourism and transport infrastructure”, could not be saved. It is estimated that the service could have been worth as much as €30 million in tourist spend to the south of Ireland in general and the Cork area in particular.

Neil Grant, the general manager of the West Cork Hotel in Skibbereen said that the Cork-Swansea ferry was responsible for reviving interest in the West Cork area among tourists from the UK. “Last Summer was a golden year... Click to read more about hotels in Cork

According to the managing director of the up-market hotel group the Dromoland Collection, Mark Nolan, prices at five star hotels have fallen by around 60 percent since the heady days of the boom just a few years ago. The AA five star Castlemartyr Resort in Cork is part of the group managed by Mr Nolan who said that there were currently some “astonishing rates” to be had for guests wanting to avail of the facilities at some of the best hotels in the country. “In the boom days of the Celtic Tiger a couple looking to take a two-night weekend break in one of our luxury five-star hotels would expect to pay at least €1,000. Now, the same hotels are offering the same deluxe accommodation and service but at a much reduced cost and for as little as €400 or €98.50 per person sharing, which represents a saving of around 60%.” Mr Noaln was quoted recently as saying in the Irish Examiner.

The Irish Hotel Federation (IHF) concurred with Mr Nolan’s suggestion, indicating that prices at five-star hotels had fallen considerably during the last three years. “Overall, prices have fallen substantially by as much... Click to read more about hotels in Cork