Historic Irish Hotel, Ashford Castle, where parts of “The Quiet Man” starring John Wayne were filmed, went on the market last week for €25 million ($32.46 million), for half the price paid for it five years ago.
Galway businessman Gerry Barrett bought the five star hotel from a group of Irish-American investors in 2008 for 50 million euro, while last year he placed Ashford Castle into receivership, but now it supposedly trades successfully. It is currently run by Tifco Hotel Group, a specialist Irish-owned asset manager.
Located on 365 acres overlooking the shores of Lough Corrib in County Mayo, the 13th century castle, owned by the Guinness family in 1852, formerly hosted some of the most renowned people including President Ronald Reagan, Britain’s King George V, Oscar Wilde and John Lennon. It was also the wedding reception venue of former James Bond actor, Pierce Brosnan in 2001.
Couple days ago, this historic 83-room hotel was voted the best resort in Ireland and the third best in Europe in the Condé Nast Traveller. With its some of the highest room rates in the hotel sector, between €400 and €950 ($584 and $1,168) per night, Ashford Castle draws a large number of overseas visitors, particularly from the U.S. [Savills]
