Waterford Castle Liquidation

7upfree

Waterford castle Management wrote: »

Hi Elliotlumb

As stated by the castle it will be business as normal and the castle is trading day to day as normal. As we all know there are loads of hotels in receivership for instance The five star Lyrath Hotel, the Ritz Carlton or Fota Island Resort, all these hotels are trading as normal just like Waterford Castle will... The Fota Island Resort has been in receivership for over two years and all their weddings have went ahead as planned and is trading perfectly. There is no worry for Waterford Castles future as stated on your call you received the other day. The castle looks forward to a very bright future. If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact the castle

Glad to hear it.:) Good luck to you all for the future.

Hoffmans

definitely the jewel in the crown of waterford hotels ,hope their financial woes get sorted ,
who owns the gaff?

lassykk

Hoffmans wrote: »

definitely the jewel in the crown of waterford hotels ,hope their financial woes get sorted ,
who owns the gaff?

There are two companies out there and I'm not sure which (assume both) are in receivership/liquidation. They haven't filed accounts in a long time and the ownership is spread over a good few people. From what I can see through CRO the main owners are both Cork based but anything could have changed since as their filings are not up to date.

Sully

Seems to be private security on ferry and on site today, for whatever reason. Not sure if this is normal or not, never seen it before.

Deise Vu

Sully wrote: »

Seems to be private security on ferry and on site today, for whatever reason. Not sure if this is normal or not, never seen it before.

I am a member of the golf club so I can confirm it is most definitely not normal. It is ridiculous overkill if you ask me. The liquidator is obviously building up a tasty bill for all his administrative genius. I mean do they think some creditors are going to rob something? All you'd have to do is ring up the ferry pilot and tell him to stop until the guards come.

Jobs for the boys in the boom, jobs for the boys in the bust. The more things change .......

kaef

A good few things were robbed couple of days before liquidator's walked in, so I understand why is it secured 24/7

Deise Vu

kaef wrote: »

A good few things were robbed couple of days before liquidator's walked in, so I understand why is it secured 24/7

When creditors have probably been fobbed off for months on the promise of a cheque and then they hear a place has gone into receivership / liquidation it is normal to expect some of them to lose the rag and arrive on site looking to take anything not nailed down. Except you normally don't have a couple of hundrd of metres of water protectecting your site. How much does 24/7 security cost versus the cost of a few cases of wine or a golf buggy, always assuming the pilot was obliging enough to ferry the robbers over and back. One guy on the slipway I could understand, but they are on the all over the place.

Nypd

The liquidator is going to have to protect the assets.
There was a couple of incidents with creditors, there is a few out of town security and and one from the city.
A castle is bound to have a lot of assets that can be easily nicked.

Viserion

We are getting married in Waterford Castle very soon (within a month) and I am very nervous about the whole situation. Waterford Castle have done very little to put my mind at ease about the whole situation and have basically fobbed off everything that has been reported in the media, saying that everything is great now that NAMA are involved.

I am worried that on the day of our wedding signs of the present situation will be very evident around the Castle. For example, after I heard about their head chef of 17 years leaving, I wanted to check if the menu for our wedding would stay the same (we have a number of vegetarian guests and I wanted to make sure the vegetarian option in particular wouldn't be changed to something plain and boring), I spent an hour on Friday between 10a.m. and 11a.m. ringing the main number of the Castle and got no answer, when I eventually got through, someone in the clubhouse picked up the phone (eventhough I had been ringing the main number) and told me they didn't know what was going on in the Castle and told me to keep ringing. I kept ringing and eventually got through to the Castle and when I asked to speak to someone about the menu I was told someone would ring me back, I waited 3 hours and nobody called me so I rang again and eventually spoke to someone. Personally speaking, I would expect Friday morning to be a time when a hotel reception would most definitely be easily accessible with people making bookings for the weekend and I would certainly expect with the present situation that the Castle would be putting their best face forward and taking every available opportunity to assure anyone contacting them that everything is business as usual.

We are just hoping that our wedding goes smoothly and if there is any problems that we won't be stuck with having to make do with what they can provide because it'll be too late to make alternative arrangements.

Sully

Viserion wrote: »

We are getting married in Waterford Castle very soon (within a month) and I am very nervous about the whole situation. Waterford Castle have done very little to put my mind at ease about the whole situation and have basically fobbed off everything that has been reported in the media, saying that everything is great now that NAMA are involved.

I am worried that on the day of our wedding signs of the present situation will be very evident around the Castle. For example, after I heard about their head chef of 17 years leaving, I wanted to check if the menu for our wedding would stay the same (we have a number of vegetarian guests and I wanted to make sure the vegetarian option in particular wouldn't be changed to something plain and boring), I spent an hour on Friday between 10a.m. and 11a.m. ringing the main number of the Castle and got no answer, when I eventually got through, someone in the clubhouse picked up the phone (eventhough I had been ringing the main number) and told me they didn't know what was going on in the Castle and told me to keep ringing. I kept ringing and eventually got through to the Castle and when I asked to speak to someone about the menu I was told someone would ring me back, I waited 3 hours and nobody called me so I rang again and eventually spoke to someone. Personally speaking, I would expect Friday morning to be a time when a hotel reception would most definitely be easily accessible with people making bookings for the weekend and I would certainly expect with the present situation that the Castle would be putting their best face forward and taking every available opportunity to assure anyone contacting them that everything is business as usual.

We are just hoping that our wedding goes smoothly and if there is any problems that we won't be stuck with having to make do with what they can provide because it'll be too late to make alternative arrangements.

You may have just called at a bad time. I called out the other day and there was a friendly lady on reception and guests floating around in the lobby area and in the grounds. The ferry was very busy. The only thing I noticed was people who looked like security and I only noticed it because they were never there before. But to others, no notice may be taken.

There are plenty of hotels in NAMA where it remains business as usual. You would be surprised, you don't hear about a lot of them.

Viserion

Sully wrote: »

You may have just called at a bad time. I called out the other day and there was a friendly lady on reception and guests floating around in the lobby area and in the grounds. The ferry was very busy. The only thing I noticed was people who looked like security and I only noticed it because they were never there before. But to others, no notice may be taken.

There are plenty of hotels in NAMA where it remains business as usual. You would be surprised, you don't hear about a lot of them.

I hope so. Thanks for the reassurance Sully.

looksee

I have also contacted them in the last couple of days and no problem getting through

wmpdd3

Counsel said NALM was also concerned about an increase in creditors arriving unannounced to Waterford Castle seeking "self help remedies". One creditor sent debt collectors and another another has threatened to inform all golf members of non-payment.



Another creditor also threatened to block access to the ferry, which is the only way Little Island can be accessed from the shore, unless they got paid, counsel added.

Must be the reason for the security.

Deise Vu

wmpdd3 wrote: »

Must be the reason for the security.

I hate to labour the point but that is nonsense. When a company is careering towards insolvency they cannot afford to lose the confidence of the few suppliers that are still providing credit. Thus, blocking the ferry would be catastrophic, or informing the members of the difficulties (incidentally the members were already all too aware anyway).

What would be the point of blocking the ferry now? The old operators are no longer involved and a wind-up process is in train. Anyone sending debt-collectors for 'DIY' solutions would have to deal with the guards now. How many businessmen will risk a court appearance and conviction for theft to recover a debt?

The ridiculous security overkill is nothing but a receiver who does not give a monkeys about the cost of the receivership and the return to ordinary creditors because he is working for the bottomless pit of munificence to insolvency practititioners that is NAMA. ie You and me - the taxpayer.

Finnbar01

Deise Vu wrote: »

I hate to labour the point but that is nonsense. When a company is careering towards insolvency they cannot afford to lose the confidence of the few suppliers that are still providing credit. Thus, blocking the ferry would be catastrophic, or informing the members of the difficulties (incidentally the members were already all too aware anyway).

What would be the point of blocking the ferry now? The old operators are no longer involved and a wind-up process is in train. Anyone sending debt-collectors for 'DIY' solutions would have to deal with the guards now. How many businessmen will risk a court appearance and conviction for theft to recover a debt?

The ridiculous security overkill is nothing but a receiver who does not give a monkeys about the cost of the receivership and the return to ordinary creditors because he is working for the bottomless pit of munificence to insolvency practititioners that is NAMA. ie You and me - the taxpayer.

How many well put it this way, if your business is already struggling and is heading for bankruptcy, along with your livelihood, I'd say many businessmen/creditors would be more than happy to take a chance with the gardai, even if it meant getting some of their money back to stay afloat.

Deise Vu

Finnbar01 wrote: »

How many well put it this way, if your business is already struggling and is heading for bankruptcy, along with your livelihood, I'd say many businessmen/creditors would be more than happy to take a chance with the gardai, even if it meant getting some of their money back to stay afloat.

If they extended a huge amount of credit to a company that it is well known to have been in trouble for at least 4-5 years and think they can steal something that will clear that debt, I would not describe them as businessmen.

Jsut as a matter of interest could people suggest something that might be nicked? Bearing in mind you would have to bring your truck / van over on the ferry, take what you are looking for and get back over the ferry before any of the employees / receivers spot you and call the guards, and bearing in mind a phone call will halt the ferry.

Finnbar01

Deise Vu wrote: »

If they extended a huge amount of credit to a company that it is well known to have been in trouble for at least 4-5 years and think they can steal something that will clear that debt, I would not describe them as businessmen.

I don't care what you call them but if you have people that are owed a lot of money and may go bankrupt if they don't get it, I can easily see why they would turn up and see what they can get/take/steal etc.

Jsut as a matter of interest could people suggest something that might be nicked? Bearing in mind you would have to bring your truck / van over on the ferry, take what you are looking for and get back over the ferry before any of the employees / receivers spot you and call the guards, and bearing in mind a phone call will halt the ferry.

Anything that has some value.

Sully

Accusations without foundation removed. Overall topic is under review as there are some posts that are a cause for concern. Some of the statements being made in here have yet to be backed up. 'Insider' knowledge doesn't cut it from our perspective because we can't prove whether your information is true or false.

thomasm

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/chinese-family-swoops-to-buy-20m-island-golf-resort-29469353.html

Interesting to see the interest from China as previous poster mentioned re golf courses over here

GUEVARA50

As far as hotels in Nama go it has to be one of the worst in value terms. 2 out of 47 Houses Sold and cant pay their way and a hotel/ golf course that due to the liquidation process ( mounting legal and receivers' costs) is now on 1 leg.

The hotel and Golf house have been sustained last years on creditors stretched to the limit , and now with that gone and no credit available the last swan song will be notified anyday.

Nama are in for 33m on this and in real terms the whole lot at a stretch is worth euros 8-10 Million. €100k a house is even optimistic. You cant split the 47 ghost houses from the island and it is only a matter of time before NAMA stops throwing money at the hotel.

Did you see how long Fota took to sell and the asset that it is? No Comparison with the Island.

The most likely scenario is that once all the numbers are crunched, NAMA will have this on the market very quick for sale and a private guy with bucks would reinstate it as a private residence. , so Out goes the public and as for those 47 houses,,, maybe turn them back to a greenhouse for cockroaches,,,,,

Any client with bookings past 3 months are taking a wild gamble,,, Again , this is not like any other Hotel in NAMA in Ireland, the accessibility costs to the Island and overhang on non working assets are huge,,,, Optimism is great to be listened to by the staff but reality needs a better ear.

Addictedtogolf

thomasm wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/chinese-family-swoops-to-buy-20m-island-golf-resort-29469353.html

Interesting to see the interest from China as previous poster mentioned re golf courses over here

As I said previously if marketed right to the Chinese/Hong Kong market it would be very easy to find 100 members/shareholders for an exclusive private golf club and hotel facility at 200k each. You could then with the funding in place secure the ferry and sell the houses as residential to locals.
I would be happy to pay €200k to live there and have somewhere so secure to bring up kids.

There is 2 major Golf Shows/Expo's in China in Nov/Dec this year and to set up a stand and present this "Dream Castle & Golf private membership" would cost a max of 100k including a couple of months advertising in the top golf magazines in China. Nice video of the castle, the ferry, Island and the golf course. Who would not love to own a piece of it?

But don't send out guys that know nothing about the Chinese market, Surely worth a shot to secure 70+ jobs. If the place closes down then it would cost a fortune to get the golf course back if not maintained regularly.

Guramoogah

Chinese owners, eh? Shure it wouldn't be any worse than being owned by a group from Cork, I suppose

rovoagho

We wouldn't be thick enough to buy it.

7upfree

rovoagho wrote: »

We wouldn't be thick enough to buy it.

There's nothing resembling it in Cork.:)

crazyman

From WLR:

"Waterford Castle Hotel has been sold for well in excess of it's guide price of over five million euro. The castle, on the 310 acre island includes the golf course, clubhouse and 48 lodges. WLRFM News understands the island has been purchased by a business man who is originally from Waterford but is now living in Australia. The property was owned by a consortium, which ran up debts of almost €34 million with AIB before a provisional liquidator was appointed. Selling Agent Marcus Magnier of Colliers International says the island is set to be transformed into a world- class resort which will include more guest accommodation in the hotel."

Good to see a local person buying it (although living abroad).

Deise Vu

crazyman wrote: »

From WLR:

"Waterford Castle Hotel has been sold for well in excess of it's guide price of over five million euro. The castle, on the 310 acre island includes the golf course, clubhouse and 48 lodges. WLRFM News understands the island has been purchased by a business man who is originally from Waterford but is now living in Australia. The property was owned by a consortium, which ran up debts of almost €34 million with AIB before a provisional liquidator was appointed. Selling Agent Marcus Magnier of Colliers International says the island is set to be transformed into a world- class resort which will include more guest accommodation in the hotel."

Good to see a local person buying it (although living abroad).

That's great news all round. A local owner who presumably has the wherewithal to invest in an upgrade is a win for the city and for the existing members. I presume he still wants the existing members! - Plenty of other cheaper golfing options around if he doesn't but I personally think the Castle is unique and with an upgrade the sky's the limit.

ILoveShoez

It's great news!! Especially for staff ðŸ˜႒

7upfree

Brilliant news!