Record room rates helped the Merrion Hotel reach new revenue highs last year
The five-star venue said the results reflected ‘a strong performance in the Dublin market’.
RECORD ROOM RATES and occupancy levels helped Dublin’s five-star Merrion Hotel hit new revenue highs last year.
According to new accounts for Hotel Merrion Ltd, turnover at the company reached €22.7 million for the year ending October 2017. This marked an increase of more than €1 million compared to the previous year.
Nearly €15 million in revenue was derived from accommodation, while €6.6 million came from food and drinks and nearly half a million euro came from the hotel’s leisure centre.
Profits were down slightly, falling from €2.9 million in 2016 to €2.6 million in 2017, however the company said that the “near-term outlook remains strong” and it believes it can “maintain revenues and profitability”.
The 123-room hotel employed an average of 296 employees per month last year, including 61 members of management and 235 hotel staff. The average salary for the hotel’s workforce stood at €26,585.
Shareholders in the hotel include Northern Ireland’s Hastings Hotel Group, as well as businessmen Lochlann Quinn and Martin Naughton.
Dublin accommodation
In the directors’ report attached to the accounts, the company said that the hotel “had a good year”, with revenue, room rates and occupancy “at their highest levels”. It added that this reflects a “strong performance in the Dublin market”.
The hotel’s revenues have increased by two-thirds since the recession, based on the latest figures. Company accounts show it recorded turnover of €13.6 million in 2010.
A recent industry survey by Crowe found that both hotel occupancy levels and profitability hit new highs in Ireland last year as a record number of tourists travelled to the country.
Occupancy rates in Dublin reached 83.5%, compared to around 70% in other parts of the country, while a shortage in tourist accommodation pushed room prices to record levels in the capital.
Although Dublin has seen an increase in hotel developments in recent years, with over 5,000 new hotel rooms expected to come on stream by 2020, Fáilte Ireland has warned that the city will need more beds to match rising demand.
