The Morrison Hotel, on Dublin’s north quays, has been put up for sale, with the sellers seeking between €90 million and €95 million.
If it achieves this price level then owner Zetland Capital/Centauro Holdings, a UK private equity investor, would stand to secure a significant return on its original €65 million investment.
The five-star hotel, which became part of the Curio Collection by Hilton in 2023, is being brought to the market by CBRE.
The Morrison Hotel occupies a prime city-centre location overlooking the Liffey and is within walking distance of Temple Bar, the IFSC and the shopping areas of Grafton Street and Henry Street. It was formally regraded to five-star status in 2023 and this has delivered rate and occupancy growth in 2024. The hotel trades at more than 90 per cent occupancy.
The sale of the hotel was mooted last February when it was reported in this newspaper that agent CBRE was appointed by the owners to quietly gauge the interest of investors in the property.
A sale price of about €100 million was suggested at the time. However, it’s understood that a softening in the hotel market in the first quarter of last year led the owners to postpone the sale.
The hotel comprises 157 bedrooms and suites, but it is expanding. The conversion of the Printworks conference room on the ground floor will provide eight new bedrooms and there will be a further four bedrooms on the fourth floor. The Morrison has three dining outlets: the Morrison Grill; the Halo restaurant; and the Quay 14 cocktail bar.
Since opening in 1999, the Morrison has changed hands several times. It was developed by the late publican Hugh O’Regan, before Nama acquired his loans.
An exceptional opportunity to acquire a long-established, highly profitable gem of a business
It was sold in 2012 to Russian billionaire investor Elena Baturina, who bought it from Nama for €22 million. Then, in 2021, Zetland Capital was understood to have paid about €65 million for the hotel.
Dave Murray, senior director of CBRE, said: “The Morrison is one of Dublin’s most consistently high-performing hotels and following recent significant investment represents an exceptional opportunity to acquire a long-established, highly profitable gem of a business which has further upside potential.”
The last big sale in the Dublin city-centre hotel market was The Shelbourne Hotel, which sold for slightly under its €260 million estimate last March, when it was acquired by European investor Archer Hotel Capital.
Overall, last year was a buoyant one for hotel deals, with about €1 billion in transactions.
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