The Merrion Hotel in Dublin, one of the plushest resting places in the city, has reported a 569 per cent rise in annual post-tax profits to €1.4 million.
The five-star luxury hotel, where a night in the penthouse suite costs €2,450, is housed in a block of restored Georgian houses opposite Government Buildings in Merrion Street. In business for nine years, its owners are former AIB chairman Lochlann Quinn, Glen Dimplex owner Martin Naughton and Northern Ireland hotelier Billy Hastings.
In addition to an art collection featuring work by Nathaniel Hone, Sir John Lavery, Jack B Yeats and Louis le Brocquy, the hotel's eateries include a restaurant run by the award-winning chef Patrick Guilbaud.
Newly-filed abridged accounts for Hotel Merrion Ltd, the vehicle that runs the business, show that it paid €50,700 to Mr Quinn during the year to October 2005 in respect of rent for a penthouse apartment at the rear of hotel. The company also bought motor vehicles from Mr Quinn for €63,000. Accommodation sales to Mr Naughton were valued at €52,587 and accommodation sales to Mr Quinn were valued at €10,059. Loans outstanding from Mr Quinn stood at €70,114 in 2005. Loans to Mr Naughton stood at €9,780.
Hotel general manager Peter MacCann declined to comment on the accounts but said that trading in the current year was "very strong" in parts of the business. "There's been a very strong performance from the corporate sector throughout the whole calendar year," he said.
Mr MacCann said tourist business from the US had improved, but still not to the level seen before 9/11. However, he said the Ryder Cup had already provided a fillip to business this summer. "All in all, it's been a good trading year."
With gross profits increasing to €7.11 million from €6.55 million, the rise in profitability followed a reduction in administrative expenses to €5.65 million from €6.25 million.
The hotel's operating profit rose to €1.45 million from €298,597 the previous year.
The post-tax profit of €1.4 million was up from €246,666.
