The two hotel stocks listed on the Irish market are something of a mixed bag, with investors attaching startlingly different valuations to Jurys and Ryan.

At its simplest, the market believes Jurys is a well-run operation which has been hugely successful in marrying its concept of low-cost "inn hotels" with its more up-market hotels which trade under the Jurys or Towers banner. Ryan, however, is seen as a somewhat less visionary organisation whose expansion into Europe has produced less impressive results than Jurys' move into Britain.

There is a feeling in the market that Ryan is still too dependent on the tour-bus market. That may be incorrect, but it is why Jurys trades on a prospective p/e 50 per cent higher than Ryan.

Ryan trades only a fraction above Davy's estimate of its 1998 net asset value while Jurys new high of 500p after the announcement of planning permission for its Manchester inn means Jurys is trading not far from double Davy's net asset value estimate. Dolmen believes Ryan is good value at its current level, and especially if privately-owned Doyle Hotels uses Ryan as a quick route to the stock market. Many believe it is only a matter of time before Doyle goes the plc route.

Even a bid of 100p per share for Ryan would be cheap compared to Jurys elevated rating and would push Ryans shares up sharply.