Two of the bigger deals in the broader Wild Atlantic Way locale have seen a US-based Irish buyer come forward for the 46-bed niche Park Hotel in Kerry's Kenmare entrepreneur Bryan Meehan, who also bought the Dromgarriff Estate with woodland and luxury holiday homes in Glengarriff in a multi-million euro purchase.
And, near Skibbereen, US buyers also emerged to buy the equally niche upmarket Liss Ard Estate on 163 acres in 2021, for a reported c €3.5 million, with reports last year its owners were looking to add further to their Irish interests.
Might they, or those associated with this internationally mobile wealthy elite come forward for a trophy such as the Eccles Hotel, gone to market this week with a €5 million price tag cited by agent John Hughes of CBRE.
The Eccles is among the longest established hotels in Munster, with hospitality roots on the site facing the waters of Bantry Bay and Garinish Island in scenic Glengarriff going back to the 1700s.
The current hotel, with its ornate cast iron canopy and veranda, dates to the 1830s, built by Lord Bantry and leased to the Eccles family who later bought it and owned it for over a century.
Other owners have included Italian businessman Renato Fogliana in the 1970s, local O’Keeffe and Murphy families, the Hanratty family from Dublin who owned and sold on a Howth hotel around 2000 for development. the Hanrattys invested a reported €8m in their purchase and upgrades at the Eccles, then with 66 bedrooms.
