Roe Park golf resort offered with £14m guide price

Roe Park Resort has 118 bedrooms

Donal Buckley

The four-star golf and spa venue, Roe Park Resort, near Limavady and the north of Ireland coast, has been listed for sale and CBRE is guiding £14m.(€16.57m) Recently named the Best Golf Resort in Ulster at the 2024 Golfers Guide to Ireland awards, it has been independently owned by local investors since it opened in 1995.

In the last three years, the resort has seen investment of over £3m in its wedding and events facilities, golf course, refurbishment of bedrooms and development of a third self-catering property.

The resort stands on 150 acres on the edge of the Roe Valley Country Park. It was once an 18th-century manor house and the site of the first hydroelectric power to be introduced in Ireland. Its manor house has been beautifully restored and together with the original coach house and gate lodge generates a distinctive charm.

The hotel accommodates 118 bedrooms, a spa, two award-winning restaurants, bars and a health club. In addition, its 18-hole parkland golf course is complemented by a driving range and golf academy,.

Currently, there are three self-catering two-bedroom lodges each extending to 660 sqft and the vendors have applied for planning permission for a further 11 detached units. It was once a Radisson hotel until the owners decided to go independent.

Alan Wilton, board chairman said: “After almost 30 years, the directors believe that the time is now right for new owners to take up the reins and see the resort continue to thrive into the future.”

The PGA-standard 5,154m parkland golf course is 16 miles from Derry city and 10 miles from Derry airport.

It is also close to some of the world’s top links courses along the Northern Ireland coast. These include Royal Portrush golf club which will again host the British Open in 2025 following the successful competition in 2019 when almost 240,000 visitors attended.

Since then a number of international hotel and golf resort chains have shown increased interest in Irish golf resorts. This is reflected in the two other resorts that have recently come to the market – Mount Juliet priced at €45m and Slieve Russell at €35m. Recent research shows that Europe’s hotel sector is currently the strongest sector of the European property investment market.

Paul Collins of CBRE says golfing has seen a bounce in playing numbers in Ireland since the Covid pandemic.