DUBLIN: Hotel investor Amaris Hospitality has announced a £24m (€30.5m) investment plan to expand its properties in Dublin, Belfast and Britain.
The group has earmarked £10m to extend its Hilton Garden Inn Custom House hotel in Dublin (formerly Jurys Inn Custom House) as well as committing £14m to extend the Jurys Inn in Belfast and the Jurys Inn in Oxford. The funds are in addition to £100m already committed for investment in the hotel portfolio.
Amaris Hospitality is owned by US private equity giant Lone Star, which bought the former Jurys Inn chain last year for €960m and added it to two portfolios of UK hotels in a merger that created on of the biggest hospitality chains in the UK and Ireland.
It ultimately plans to float the business on the stock exchange. In the meantime Amaris, headed by chief executive John Brennan, who previously ran Jury Inns, has been selling some assets and investing in others.
In Dublin, the Hilton Garden Inn Custom House, which officially opened its doors on June 1 having previously been a Jurys Inn hotel, will gain an additional 85 bedrooms following its planned extension.
The Jurys Inn Belfast is to receive an £8m capital investment to support the addition of 80 new rooms and the renovation of its current rooms.
The four star Jurys Inn hotel in Oxford will gain an additional 72 rooms as well as meeting space following a £5.7m investment.
In total, the Amaris Hospitality extension programme will add a further 237 rooms to the group, which already has over 13,500 rooms in its portfolio. Amaris Hospitality is actively considering a number of other opportunities to extend additional properties in key strategic locations, the company said.
“The hospitality sector is experiencing positive momentum, with Amaris Hospitality making excellent progress on its previously announced business plan. We are therefore committing an extra £24m to add 237 rooms to three landmark hotels,” said John Brennan, ceo of Amaris Hospitality.
The business is considering expanding other hotels in the portfolio and potential acquisitions in the UK. It trades under eight brands including Jurys Inn, Mercure, MGallery, Ibis Styles, Hilton, and Crowne Plaza. It has 13,500 rooms, 6,000 staff and sales of over £400m (€510m).
