Northern Ireland company Hastings Hotels is to open a new 200-room property in a historic building in Belfast.
Hastings purchased 22-storey Windsor House in May for £6.5 million and will apply for planning permission to turn the current office building into the Belfast Grand Central Hotel in a project worth a total of £30 million.
The hotel, which is due to be completed in 2018, will operate in the "four-star market". Facilities will also include 18 serviced apartments, a bar and a restaurant.
Chairman Sir William Hastings said: "This project is a huge undertaking for Hastings Hotels and it is has only been made possible by the strength of our existing hotels portfolio and the quality of our staff and management.
"It will bring the number of bedrooms in our group to over 1,000 making us the largest privately owned hotel chain on the island of Ireland."
Hastings already operates seven hotels in Northern Ireland including Belfast’s Europa Hotel, Stormont Hotel and Culloden Estate, as well as Ballygally Castle in Antrim.
Rob Gill
