The group acquired the Dolce hotel, located in the hip resort of Sitges just south of the Catalan capital, from a local consortium comprising Spanish property developers and Dolce International, the US-headquartered group that will continue to operate the hotel.
O’Dowd and O’Mahony are planning further acquisitions on the continent and have already begun scouting with Radisson for suitable properties in major European cities.
The consortium, which funded the Spanish deal through its own resources, already owns the €24m Radisson hotel in Limerick and the €36m Radisson hotel in Cork, which opened last year. It also owns Inchydoney and has just invested €1.25m upgrading the Cork resort’s spa facilities.
“There is very little scope for good value acquisitions in Ireland at the moment so we’re really happy with this deal,” said O’Dowd.
“It’s a fine hotel, and it only opened 18 months ago. We’ve been looking at all the primary European cities over the last while, and we would like to maintain our strong relationship with Radisson if we do any more deals. We went with Dolce for the Sitges deal because they really know this particular type of premium conference niche very well.”
Advertisement
The Sitges property doubles as both a resort hotel and a conference location, sitting on a hilltop overlooking the Mediterranean. It has 34 meeting rooms, as well as three restaurants, a poolside cocktail bar and spa facilities. Last year it received 55,000 guests and had a turnover of €12.7m.
O’Mahony is also involved in the Fota Island resort, which was developed by John Fleming and comprises a five-star Sheraton hotel and golf facilities as well as 53 holiday lodges.