New owner vows to put sustainability to the forefront at Kenmare's Park Hotel
John and Francis Brennan at the Park Hotel Kenmare. Picture: Domnick Walsh
THE new Irish owner of the five-star Park Hotel in Kenmare has pledged to make the experience even better for guests and to put a strong focus on sustainability.
Bryan Meehan, who made his fortune in coffee, organic food and skincare — he co-founded the Nude beauty brand with Ali Hewson, wife of U2 frontman Bono — also plans to change the artwork at the Park, but not the staff. In an interview on Newstalk radio, he praised the staff as an “incredible group of people”.
He emphasised his long-term commitment to the 46-bed luxury property, saying he and his wife Tara and their family “own the company 100%”.
“And so this is a keeper,” he said, unlike some of his previous businesses, such as his San Francisco-based coffee chain, Blue Bottle Coffee, which he sold a number of years ago to Swiss food giant Nestle, in a deal worth $500 (€420m). Nude was sold to global luxury good conglomerate LVMH.
Mr Meehan, a committed social entrepreneur, has not previously run a hotel, but he does offer guest accommodation in the form of five houses at Dromgarriff Rainforest, a stunning 96-acre estate bordering the Glengarriff Nature Reserve, which he bought in 2022.
Mr Meehan was inspired to buy Dromgarriff by his three adult daughters, who are also committed to sustainability.
“This is one of the last remaining temperate Oakwood rainforests in Ireland. And then I saw it was available for sale. We're looking to restore and bring the rainforest back to its glory,” Meehan said.
Owning the Park will be good for business in Dromgarriff and vice versa, he said.
Mr Meehan bought the hotel from hospitality gurus, John and Francis Brennan, and Glen Dimplex chair Fergal Naughton, who bought a 30% stake in 2018. The Brennans ran it for the past 43 years, after Francis became manager when it was bought out of receivership in the 1980s.
John said he has “mixed emotions” about the sale.
“You don’t leave a business like the Park Hotel with the team that has worked for us for so many years, without mixed emotions,” he said.
However he “couldn’t imagine selling it to anyone else [other than Meehan] because there's a huge amount of synergy between us”.
“His history suits the Park Hotel perfectly for the future,” John said, adding his commitment to sustainability was heartfelt, not driven by the bottom line.
“As a result, he can make a great property over the next five or six years,” the outgoing managing director said.
Mr Meehan found out the hotel was for sale while having lunch there earlier this year and John subsequently contacted him.
A total of €3m has been invested in it in recent years.
Meehan and his wife Tara, along with their three daughters, are expected to actively participate in the hotel’s operations.
