Dalata Hotel Group signed two hotel deals in November 2024, as it started to deliver on a promised expansion of the group’s portfolio.
The company agreed to buy the Radisson Hotel at Dublin airport, for EUR83m. And in London, it signed a lease to operate a new hotel being developed in the city’s financial district, part of the Tower 42 estate. And in Edinburgh, it has agreed to lease another hotel, subject to developers winning consent for an office conversion.
Ensuring an airport presence
The four star hotel at Dublin airport will be converted to become a Clayton hotel, during the first half of 2025. Dalata says there will be a modest refit, as the property underwent a refurbishment in 2023. The hotel will ensure Dalata’s continued presence at Dublin airport, where a licence on its current Maldron hotel expires in early 2026.
The acquired property has additional options that could extend its current 229 rooms, with two separate planning consents in place for extensions.
In London, the expectation is that Dalata will be able to open its sixth hotel in the city in the second half of 2028. It has agreed to lease a newly created 154 room hotel, to be developed alongside the city’s landmark NatWest tower. The 25 year leased property will open under the group’s Clayton brand. The group’s most recent addition to its London presence is the Maldron hotel in Shoreditch, which opened in August 2024.
And a third property is joining the Dalata pipeline, in Scotland. There, developers are intending to convert a standing office block in Edinburgh to a hotel. The conversion will deliver a hotel of at least 250 rooms, with Dalata lined up to take the property for its Clayton brand. As the building has already been stripped of its previous office interiors, it should be available for a swift conversion.
Delivering on an expansion plan
At an October 2024 investor day, Dalata revealed plans to grow its business from its current 12,000 rooms to 21,000 bedrooms by 2030, declaring “we are aiming to become the largest hotel operator in the four-star segment of all major cities in Ireland and Regional UK by 2030 with a growing presence in London and continental Europe.” The company said it would continue to add hotels via a mix of leasing and acquiring freehold properties.
The company currently has 17 hotels in Ireland and 22 in the UK, while in continental Europe it is just starting out with hotels in Dusseldorf and Amsterdam. It has laid out its aspirations to have hotels across key European gateway cities including Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Prague and Rome.
