Bryan Meehan, a Dublin-born and US-based entrepreneur, purchased the 46-bedroom hotel from the Brennan brothers, Francis and John, and Fergal Naughton in November 2023.
New accounts from Mr Meehan’s Forever Begin (Kerry) Ltd, which operates the hotel, show it recorded the pre-tax loss of €877,932 as revenues totalled €5.62m from October 27, 2023 to December 2024.
In their report, the directors state the hotel earnings for the period after adding back depreciation, amortisation, acquisition costs and loan interest amounted to €228,305.
Non-cash depreciation costs totalled €667,358 while interest costs totalled €300,000.
A spokeswoman for the hotel stated it continued to trade strongly in the period to the end of December 2024 “with sales and earnings before interest, depreciation and once-off costs being in line with expectations of the directors”.
“The focus for 2024 and 2025 has been on the redevelopment of the hotel, with a significant investment of circa €18m that has been internally financed without third party debt,” she added.
There will be further investment in capital projects at the hotel this year, the spokeswoman said.
The company is not prioritising profitability returns in 2025 and 2026 and expects that full-year 2027 will reflect the true trading position after the completion of the capital projects.
Mr Meehan said: “Since our family took ownership in November 2023, our primary goal has been to protect what makes the hotel so special. The connection to the community, farms and surrounding land of Kenmare, the outstanding amenities we are proud to offer and, most importantly, our incredible team, some of whom have been at Park Hotel Kenmare for upwards of four decades.”
Mr Meehan is the former chief executive of Blue Bottle Coffee, a California-based company. A majority stake in the company was sold to Nestlé in 2017 for more than €400m.
“Our focus up to now has been on the redevelopment of the hotel,” he said.
“Our head chef James O’Sullivan has transformed our food offering. We are lucky to display a remarkable collection of work by artists from around the world. The introduction of new events like Music at the Park and visiting chefs is only just the beginning.”
He pointed out that the Park was one of just five hotels in Ireland to be awarded two Michelin keys in 2025.
The accounts placed a book value of €21.11m on the company’s tangible assets before the non-cash depreciation cost of €665,414 is taken into account.
In 2024, the firm employed 73 people and staff costs totalled €2.59m. Shareholder funds at the end of 2024 amounted to €8.6m.
source