Hotel and country club to get €5.5m upgrade

FBD Property and Leisure Ltd is to spend €5.5 million on the expansion and upgrading of its successful Castleknock Hotel and Country Club in north Dublin. Planning permission has been sought for an additional 43 bedrooms and three extra suites, which will bring the room capacity up to 190.

As part of the development plan, the day spa – currently on the first floor – will be relocated to the ground floor where a new aerobics suite and five additional treatment rooms will be added. The improved leisure centre will have its own entrance as well as being accessible from the hotel.

FBD has estimated that about 100 jobs will be filled at the four-star hotel during the construction phase with a further 20 new jobs to be created at the hotel on completion.

David Kelly, chief executive of FBDPLL, said their hotels had been performing ahead of projections, including the Castleknock hotel, which had made significant progress since the first signs of economic recovery emerged. Dublin was leading the way in terms of visitor numbers, he said, and the company was now in position where it could expand.

FBD Property and Leisure Ltd owns and manages three hotels in Ireland including Castleknock, Faithlegg House Hotel in Waterford, the Tower Hotel, Waterford, and two resorts in southern Spain, La Cala Resort and Sunset Beach Club. The company employs more than 700 staff across its hotel and resort portfolio. It is targeting €50 million in operating profits across its portfolio over the next five years.