THE MOUNT Herbert Hotel in south Dublin has been rebranded by the Loughran family, who founded it in 1955, as the final piece of a €5 million upgrade of facilities that has taken place over the past couple of years.
The 168-bed property, which employs 60 staff, has been renamed the Sandymount Hotel.
This follows an extensive refurbishment, which included a new bar and restaurant, the addition of five conference rooms and a remodelling of bedrooms and the exterior of the hotel.
Director John Loughran, whose parents founded the hotel, said the change was aimed at reducing confusion over its location.
“There was confusion with the Herbert Park Hotel and there are three Herbert Roads in Dublin. First-time customers often had difficulty finding us. We felt it would be easier to go for a location-based rebrand.”
Latest accounts for the Mount Herbert show it had revenues of €3.3 million in 2009.
Mr Loughran said this fell by about 10 per cent in 2010, when the company made a “small loss” of about €70,000.
“This included a depreciation charge of €350,000 so we were cash positive,” he added.
Mr Loughran expects 2011 to be “slightly better” in revenue terms.
“The first couple of months [of 2011] have been challenging due to the uncertainty around the IMF bailout and the election,” he said.
“My feeling is that once the new government settles down some normality will come back to the economy.”
Located close to the Aviva Stadium, the hotel has benefited from the re-opening of the ground and will cater for 200 Leicester fans for the club’s Heineken Cup quarter final match with Leinster.
Mr Loughran said the €5 million investment was paid for from its own resources and borrowings from Bank of Ireland, who gave his parents a loan to set up the business 56 years ago.
