One of Galway’s iconic hotels is to be honoured by having its name used across a chain of hotels turning it into the largest hotel brand in the country.
Dalata Hotel Group PLC (Dalata ), the largest hotel operator in Ireland, has announced that by the end of 2015, 10 of its newly acquired hotels across the UK and Ireland will be rebranded as Clayton Hotels. Six of the hotels previously traded under the Bewley brand. The Maldron hotels in Cardiff, Wales and Cardiff Lane, Dublin will also be rebranded Clayton in the coming months. Together with the existing Clayton Hotel in Galway, there will be 13 Clayton hotels in the UK and Ireland. With eight hotels and 1,900 rooms, Clayton Hotels will become the largest hotel brand in Ireland.
Clayton Hotels aim to offer luxury accommodation at prime locations across Ireland and the UK with a focus on the corporate market which is the principal distinction between Clayton Hotels and the more family orientated sister hotel group – Maldron Hotels.
Investing €27m in the redevelopment and upgrade of both brands, including the roll out of the exclusive Clayton Hotel signature bedrooms, Dalata strives to ensure that guests have a pleasurable stay albeit for business or leisure.
The rebranded Clayton Hotels will have a significant focus on training and developing staff, bringing a heightened service experience to customers. Clayton Hotels will offer a people-focused service with their ‘your stay, your way’ approach with the team’s goal to make their guests’ stay as relaxing as possible and provide them with a home from home environment. Their offering will include little touches such as the hotel’s own brand healthy vitality breakfast range.
Each with its own unique personality, Clayton Hotels’ portfolio will offer a range of strategic city and airport hotel locations including:
Cricklewood, London
Chiswick, London
Silvers Springs, Cork
Manchester Airport
Dublin Airport
Ballsbridge, Dublin
Leopardstown, Dublin
Leeds
Cardiff Lane, Dublin
Galway
Belfast
Whites of Wexford
Cardiff, Wales
It was announced earlier this year that the acquisition of Clayton Hotel Galway, an outstanding modern property with excellent conference facilities, was the catalyst for the continued rebrand across 13 of Dalata’s hotels.
As part of Dalata’s strategy to assemble a portfolio of high quality hotels in Ireland, the Clayton Hotel rebrand is a welcomed and refreshing asset to the Dalata Group Portfolio. Pat McCann, founder and chief executive officer of the Dalata Hotel Group PLC says “It’s an exciting time for the Dalata team. Our strategy is to leverage the group’s core asset management, hotel operation and development capabilities to grow the business. It is fantastic to see this coming to life with the launch and forthcoming roll out of Clayton Hotels here in Ireland.”
In March 2014, Dalata floated on the UK (AIM ) and Irish (ESM ) stock exchange raising €265m of equity. In a deal worth €453m, Dalata acquired nine Moran Bewley hotels in February 2015 part funded by an additional equity raise of €50m and debt of €282m. Dalata also acquired an additional eight hotels on the island of Ireland in the period from June 2014 to April 2015. It is Ireland’s largest hotel operator. Dalata was founded in July 2007 by Pat McCann, former chief executive of the Jurys Doyle Hotel Group. It operates 45 hotels across the UK and Ireland with a total of 7,480 rooms and 4,366 employees.
