One of the best known family run hotels along the east coast, The Conyngham Arms Hotel, in Slane, Co Meath, is expected to sell for over £1.6 million when it auctioned on September 29th by Hamilton Osborne King.

The stone-fronted building has been in the hands of the Macken family since 1928 when it was brought for £1,350 by Mrs Dorothy Macken. The present owners, Kevin and Vonie Macken, who have built up a strong local food and beverage business augmented by a strong tourist trade, are selling to concentrate on other interests. The hotel is located in the centre of the historic and preserved manor village, set in the Boyne Valley and close to Newgrange. The general area is also experiencing an unprecedented population growth as a result of the outward expansion of Dublin.

The hotel itself has a three-star AA rating and has 14 en suite bedrooms, a 65-seater restaurant, meeting room, lounge bar and snug. There is also an impressive banqueting suite for 175 dining guests or 200 in theatre style. There is car-parking. Katherine Dwyer of HOK pointed out: "The Mackens have successfully created an atmosphere of comfort while maintaining a strong sense of history throughout. The hotel gardens provide a splendid landscape for guests and the strong wedding business that the hotel has established.

"The hotel is one of the finest small country hotels that has come on to to the market in some time. It deserves a visit if just to appreciate the style and elegance of the bedrooms alone." The hotel is being sold with "significant unutilised capital allowances" and, the agents report, significant development potential.