
Dublin's Morrison Hotel will reopen next Feburary under Hilton’s ‘DoubleTree’ brand. It is the first development of the brand on the Irish soil
The Morrison Hotel opened in 1999 and was originally part of the late Hugh O’Regan’s business empire. It went into receivership due to the financial crisis and ended up among the various assets managed by NAMA, the public Irish agency established to save the banking system. The hotel was acquired from NAMA last year by a Russian billionaire Elana Baturina. She financed a complete €7m refurbishment and the hotel is now ready for reopening under the DoubleTree brand. It will be a franchise contract and the hotel will be operated by Martinez Hotels & Resorts, Vienna. Patrick Joyce, the former general manager of the Lyrath Estate hotel in Kilkenny, has been appointed general manager of the Morrison.Patrick Fitzgibbon, senior vice-president in charge of Development at Hilton Worldwide, said the chain was confident the DoubleTree brand would do well in Ireland. It will be the first time Hilton has used the DoubleTree brand in Ireland.“We’ve been eager to secure the right location,” he said. “This deal is also indicative of a renewed buoyancy in the Irish hospitality market, visible in both the strong performance of our existing portfolio and the confidence of owners and developers to invest.”As an indication of the changes on the Dublin’s market, the Burlington was bought in November by US private equity giant Blackstone for €67m. Il will also be managed under the DoubleTree brand. Ms Baturina paid €22m for the 138-bedroom Morrison.
