John and Francis Brennan are ready for “people with new energy to come in and take over” after putting the Kenmare hotels on the market.
The Brennan brothers have placed the two Kerry hotels on the market, the five-star Park Hotel and The Lansdowne, offering the combined sale for €20.5 million.
Speaking to The Pat Kenny Show, Francis Brennan said the pandemic allowed him to have “a fantastic time” because he had time to himself for the first time in his life.
“John and I just decided; ‘Listen, it's time,’” he said.
“He has Dromquinna [Manor] and that’ll keep him going to no end, I have loads of other things – I won’t be idle.”
Refurbishments
Pat Brennan said the refurbishments of both of the Kenmare hotels were part of the eventual selling process.
“Nothing is forever, and when we embarked on a project in 2019 to totally refurbish the Park Hotel, it was to put it in condition to bring it to the future and make it market-appropriate for where the tourism is at the moment,” he said.
“In that process of renovating the whole Park Hotel, The Lansdowne went into receivership, we bought it, and we embarked on that project.
“You don't make a decision like this on the basis of one thing, there are many, many things in the hat and you look at it all and you weigh it all up.
“Very often unfortunately for family hotels they sell, and they come into trouble at the bottom of a cycle when they're in bad repair, our is actually the direct opposite – this is a very, very happy day for ourselves.”
The Park Hotel in Kenmare, Ireland (agefotostock / Alamy Stock Photo)Refresh
Pat Brennan said the timing feels correct to sell the hotels now because of a need for ‘fresh energy.’
“It is the right decision for everyone in the long-term because hotels need to refresh themselves on a regular basis,” he said.
“We've done that fantastically for the last 40 years, but as Francis said, COVID taught us an awful lot of lessons.
“We had time to walk dogs, and time tend to walk with ourselves and talk and enjoy our lives.
“Hotels are 24-hour businesses, and after 40-odd years looking after people and being at the front of the hotel, we just think it's time to step back and let other people who are new energy come in and take them over.”
Tourism in Ireland
Francis said despite issues with the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the 2008 recession, tourism in Ireland “is very buoyant.”
“There's never a right time or never a wrong time [to sell] because there's always something globally affecting the hotel business,” he said.
“Ireland has done extremely well, considering Ukraine and the interest rate increases.
“Ireland is very much on people's minds – I believe it's within the top 10 of people's bucket list.”
John said: “It's the constant delivery of your presence in front of people overseas that keeps the water dropping on a stone.”
“We have a fantastic hospitality ethos in the country … so the future of tourism is not a worry whatsoever in my mind.”
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Main image shows Francis and John Brennan (Photo from francisbrennan.ie)
