Dublin hotel room stock shortage in 2018

Dublin's meager hotel room stock, totaling 19,000 rooms, shows no signs of significant growth in 2018, according to a Davy report. The several new hotels and existing hotel extensions in the city's pipeline, which will add 800 new rooms, aren't expected to make a dent in the current inventory.

While Davy stated this year "will be the first time in almost 10 years that Dublin will see a meaningful increase in new room supply, a moderate level of supply tightness will remain." The analyst forecasts about 1,300 new hotel guestrooms will open in the city. More than 500 of these new hotel guestrooms will be included in existing hotel extensions, boosting supply 6 percent.

There will also be several new openings in 2018, further boosting the rise in supply. These include the Iveagh Garden Hotel and the Devlin Hotel. Dalata alone will add 551 new guestrooms to Dublin's stock, including those from the 180-room Clayton Charlemont opening in September 2018 and the 140-room Maldron Hotel Kevin Street, Dublin 8 opening in the city center in late 2018. Savills states that more than half of the additions this year will come from new hotels.

The data analyst stated on Monday, Jan. 15, 2017, that Dalata Hotel Group's price target rose from €6.20 to €6.90. Davy attributed the increase to the group's strong RevPAR growth, operational improvements, an asset-light expansion strategy and Dublin's low room stock numbers.

Hodson Bay Group's first hotel in Dublin is set for completion in March 2019, with plans to operate a hotel 234-room in the city. The group also operates Athlone's Hodson Bay and Sheraton hotels.

However, hotel room supply will remain low on a net basis. The city's market will only see a small room stock increase this year due to the closing of two Dalata-owned properties. The hotel group's lease on the 392-room Ballsbridge Hotel will be up in October although Dalata plans to extend it to March 2019. Chartered Land still has plans to redevelop the property once the lease ends. The 111-room Tara Towers Hotel will also close ahead of its redevelopment into a 140-room Maldron Hotel.