Belfast hotels: Four new businesses given go-ahead

The War Memorial building in Waring Street will be given a new lease of life

Four new hotels planned for Belfast have been given the go-ahead by the city council.

Three of the projects previously had permission but did not proceed for various reasons.

The largest scheme is for a site close to the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction, which will consist of 135 hotel beds and 93 aparthotel units.

It previously had permission but has now been redesigned. The other three hotels are in the Cathedral Quarter.

The largest is a conversion of the War Memorial building in Waring Street to create a 120-bedroom hotel with a covered roof top terrace.

The building first received planning approval for a hotel in 2016 but has been through several changes of ownership since then.

The scheme is now being taken forward by County Antrim business people Seamus and Orla Murray.

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The two other Cathedral Quarter projects are 20-bedroom boutique hotels.

One in Hill Street will involve the conversion of offices formerly occupied by the Housing Executive.

This is an updating of a previously approved scheme.

The other inDonegall Street will also involve the conversion of office buildings.

Last month a 175-room aparthotel opened on Queen Street in Belfast.

Room2 was developed by businessman Gareth Graham and is let to London-based operator the Lamington Group.

There are several other hotel projects in the city currently seeking planning permission including the Dean Hotel on Bedford Street and two separate aparthotel projects for former HMRC offices on Wellington Place and Great Victoria Street.

There are currently 39 hotels in Belfast with a total of 5,040 rooms, according to the Northern Ireland Hotel Federation.