The American group which is to operate the new five-star hotel on the edge of College Street in Dublin is also understood to be in discussions to run one of the two hotels planned for the National Conference Centre in the Dublin docklands.
Starwood Hotel & Resorts Worldwide is to lease the city centre Westin hotel from the developers, Treasury Holdings, who are also leading the consortium which is to develop the £80 million conference centre at Spencer Dock on the North Wall. The 161-bedroom hotel will be located on the triangular site bounded by College Street, Westmoreland Street and Fleet Street. One of the two 250-bedroom hotels planned for a site beside the conference centre will be a five-star while the other will have a four-star status.
Work is due to start later this month on the College Street site and the hotel is due to open before Christmas 2000. AIB is to retain a retail branch at the junction of College Street and Westmoreland Street and will also have offices on the first floor.
Hilton Hotels originally agreed to operate the hotel but pulled out last summer partly because of a lengthy legal challenge against the planning permission by Lancefort Ltd. Starwood Hotel and Resorts claims to be the world's largest hotel group with 650 hotels in 70 countries. It is also the largest real estate investment trust in the US. In addition to the Westin chain of hotels, it also controls the Sheraton and Caesars subsidiaries. Westin plans to use the existing banking hall at 5 College Street as a conference and banqueting hall to seat about 240 people. A further meeting hall will be built overhead to accommodate another 200 people. The basement, which has vaulted ceilings, will house the main hotel bar and will have direct access to College Street. The kitchens, service bays and basement car parking will also be located off Fleet Street. The hotel will have a health club and a 100-seater restaurant on the corner of Fleet Street and Westmoreland Street.
Mr Bob Cotter, senior vice president and chief executive of Starwood Hotel & Resorts, said yesterday that they were proud to add Dublin to their growing portfolio of European locations.
The hotel will have its main entrance on Westmoreland Street through a full-height air conditioned atrium. Access to the guest floors will be via galleries overlooking the atrium.
