Hastings Hotel group is to modify its plan for the 200-bedroom Grand Central Hotel in Belfast and will now aim for 304 bedrooms, making it the biggest hotel in Northern Ireland.
The planned £30 million four-star development of one of Ireland's biggest buildings, the 23-storey Windsor House, is the single biggest investment in the the Hastings group history, reports The Belfast Telegraph. The revised plans could also include office accommodation, ground-floor retail and bar spaces, as well restaurants on the ground, first and 22nd floors.
"It will be the biggest hotel, and Hastings are well-versed in the hotel product. It's good to see increased development on a number of projects. Larger hotels are popular with conferences [as they can] have all the delegates in the same place," said Janice Gault, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation.
The Windsor House was purchased in a £6.5 million deal last year, with the Hastings group saying at the time that the planned development would result in the creation of 150 jobs at the hotel.
Other hotels currently under construction in Belfast include a 179-bedroom project by Andras House Hotels, a 206-bedroom hotel at the former Belfast Metropolitan College and a £25 million four-star, 188-bedroom AC Hotel by Marriott Belfast as part of the City Quays development.
