Pontoon Bridge Hotel to go under the hammer

Anton McNulty

THE Pontoon Bridge Hotel is set to go under the hammer tomorrow and could be available to buy at a knock-down price of €340,000.
The iconic 58 bedroom hotel will go on sale tomorrow (Wednesday) at Allsop’s online auction with the property reserved at €340,000 to €360,000. The hotel, which is located on the shore of Lough Conn and Lough Cullin, was run by the Geary family since 1964 until the property was placed into receivership in the summer of 2011.
The Pontoon Bridge Hotel was initially constructed in the 1940s, and then refurbished and extended in 2006. It consists of 58 ensuite bedrooms and a function room with a capacity of 320 guests, along with a bar and lounge, a restaurant and a spa and treatment centre.
Despite the extensive refurbishment, the business struggled during the height of the recession. In 2011, Ulster Bank appointed Michael McAteer and Aengus Burns of Grant Thornton as joint receivers.
In 2014, the hotel, along with a number of other Ulster Bank hotels, were put on sale by DTZ Sherry FitzGerald, with guide price of €550,000.
The hotel is one of more than 230 properties with a combined value of more than €38m on reserve which are set to go under the hammer at the online auction. More than 90 percent of the lots were sold at the Allsop auction in February and at an average of 53 percent above their reserve prices.
It is situated on the southern shores of Lough Conn approximately 16km north of Castlebar and 6km west of Foxford.