One of Europe’s leading hotel operators has purchased Tulfarris Hotel & Golf Resort, near Blessington, County Wicklow at a price in excess of €8m.
The four star resort is the latest acquisition by Prem Group which now owns, leases or manages 43 properties across Ireland, the UK and Europe with 3,500 guest rooms and 1,500 employees under its management.
The Dublin-based company has a portfolio which comprises city-centre budget hotels and 4 star business hotels and resort properties including the Osprey Hotel + Spa, Naas, which it purchased in 2015.
Since the beginning of 2016, in addition to its hotel acquisitions, the company has expanded its growing collection of serviced apartments to Scotland for the first time, bringing the total number of locations to 13. Further developments are planned for the UK, as well as Amsterdam, Brussels, and Rotterdam over the next 18 months.
PREM Group announced a funding package worth €30 million with Proventus Capital Partners last autumn. The company has been using the substantial funds to finance its expansion plans.
These include strategic acquisitions of freehold hotels, serviced apartment developments and hotel management as well as services companies in PREM Group’s core markets. The highly diversified company also includes Trinity Hospitality Services, a provider of specialist hospitality services to over 600 independent hotel owners and serviced apartment operators across Europe.
Chief Executive at PREM Group, Jim Murphy said, "We are delighted to have the opportunity to add this excellent and popular resort to our family of hotels. Our intention is to have 50 properties within the PREM Group portfolio by the end of 2017 across all our key markets. This will include 20 serviced apartment properties under our PREMIER SUITES brand.”
He added, "The growing popularity of the serviced apartment / apart-hotel sector in Ireland and the UK shows that increasing numbers of business and leisure travellers are choosing more flexible alternatives to traditional hotel accommodation for extended stays. We are looking at a pipeline of locations to expand our PREMIER SUITES collection in major cities across Europe."
Source: www.businessworld.ie