Ashford Castle pays out €3.3m for 14 unit housing estate
The owners of the five-star luxury Ashford Castle resort have paid out €3.3m for a 14-unit housing estate in the Co Mayo town of Ballinrobe in order to provide accommodation for staff.
The general manager at Ashford Castle, Niall Rochford, confirmed the multi-house purchase at Military Close, Ballinrobe today to house 56 staff.
But he did not disclose the purchase price as he stated that the resort this year is benefiting from so-called "coolcations" as US tourists avoid 40 to 45 degree summer heat in Mediterranean countries preferring "ultra-luxury" breaks in Ireland's cooler climate.
Mr Rochford was commenting on new accounts for Ashford Castle Hotel Ltd which show that the company's Earnings Before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) was €7.39m last year - 4% down on 2022.
Mr Rochford said that the hotel firm's earnings in fact increased last year as the 2022 earnings of €7.68m included Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) payments of €950,222 that did not re-occur in 2023.
The Red Carnation-owned Ashford Castle said that 2023 was "a strong and positive year" as revenues increased by 16% from €27.1m to €31.45m.
Mr Rochford said that he expects "a slight increase" in revenues this year, stating that room occupancy is in the mid-90% from May to October.
"Business has been very, very strong but the challenge continues to be maintaining margin due to increased cost pressures," he said.
In their report, the directors state that the main drivers of the cost increases in 2023 were food and labour costs.
Commenting on the multi-house purchase completed earlier this year at Ballinrobe, Mr Rochford said that the hotel decided to make the purchase as one of the main challenges facing hotel operators is attracting and retaining staff and where staff would live.
He said that 56 staff live in the houses in Ballinrobe with the hotel providing accommodation to a total of 155 staff on and off the Ashford estate after it completed a 45 room staff accommodation block on the estate in 2018.
Mr Rochford declined to disclose the amount paid out for the 14 houses but figures available on the Residential Property Price Register confirm that on June 5 of this year, the sale of the 14 house estate at Military Close, Ballinrobe was completed at a price of €3.3m which works out an average house price of €235,714.
On the Ballinrobe accommodation, Mr Rochford said "the staff love it".
He said that Ashford operates a regular bus service for staff to and from the Ballinrobe housing estate from 6am to 12 midnight every day. Ballinrobe is 12km from Ashford Castle.
"It takes a lot of logistics and a lot of effort but for an employer operating in a rural and remote part of the country it needed to be done," Mr Rochford said.
He said that the resort is benefiting this year from mainly US visitors who are avoiding the 40 to 45 degree temperatures of the southern European country and choosing Ireland's cooler climate instead.
"'Coolcations' is the new buzz word and guests are telling us that they are coming here instead of going to southern European countries and prefer Ireland's cooler climate to enjoy the less busy and less frenetic holidays here," he stated.
Mr Rochford said that the first quarter of this year "was very sluggish and quite difficult".
However he said that business has been strong since, driven by a growth in the US visitors "who see Ireland as a destination of choice for luxury and ultra-luxury holidays".
The accounts show that Ashford Castle Hotel Ltd last year recorded pre-tax profits of €1.82m after taking into account interest payments of €1.2m and non cash depreciation costs of €4.35m. The firm made charitable donations last year of €105,000.
Staff numbers last year increased from 327 to 342 as staff costs increased from €9.38m to €10.7m.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
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