New owners of Ballykisteen resort plan major investment

Another provincial hotel and golf course has changed hands at a fraction of its original value. The four-star Ballykisteen Hotel and Golf Resort opposite Limerick Junction Racecourse in Co Tipperary has been acquired by an Irish-owned brand Great National Hotels and Resorts. It will be managed by a sister company GN Asset Management.

The 40-bedroom hotel was first offered for sale last April at more than €2 million on the instructions of Kieran Wallace of receivers KPMG. It is understood to have made well in excess of the asking price.

David Byrne, cofounder and chief executive of Great National Hotels and Resorts which has acquired eight Irish hotels in the past two years, said they planned a "substantial investment programme" to upgrade the Ballykisteen Hotel and Golf Resort.

The latest purchase comes after the investment group completed a first round of funding to finance its new boutique budget hotel brand, Great Nite Inn.

John Hughes of CBRE, who handled the sale, said that since opening in 2005 the hotel had become a particularly popular venue for weddings and leisure breaks.

The Des Smyth-designed 18-hole parkland golf course stands on 114 acres in a rich farming hinterland. The course is expected to benefit considerably from a plan to stage a televised European professional tour event there in May, 2017.

The hotel is located on the busy Limerick to Waterford road within 6km of Tipperary town, 30 minutes' drive from Limerick city and an hour's journey from Cork city.