Business

Crowne Plaza completes first phase of £5m Belfast investment

Staff at the Crowne Plaza in Belfast celebrate the completion of the first phase of the hotel's £5 million investment in its guest rooms
Staff at the Crowne Plaza in Belfast celebrate the completion of the first phase of the hotel's £5 million investment in its guest rooms Staff at the Crowne Plaza in Belfast celebrate the completion of the first phase of the hotel's £5 million investment in its guest rooms

THE Crowne Plaza has completed the first phase of a £5 million investment programme in guest bedrooms at the multi award-winning four-star property at Shaw’s Bridge in Belfast.

The refurbishment at Andras Hotels’ flagship property will see 33 bedrooms added, with a significant upgrade of its guest bedroom accommodation with all 120 bedrooms being completely refurbished.

New executive club rooms have been completed and a floor exclusively for IHG Rewards Club Members has been added.

The refurbishment and extension has been designed by award-winning architects and designers Consarc Architects and Philip Rodgers Design who collaborated on a design-led approach, with new bespoke furniture and soft furnishings, air-conditioning, wifi and all new bathrooms.

This is the final stage of the Crowne Plaza investment programme which, over the past three years, has seen an upgrade of all public areas including a complete refurbishment of the grand ballroom, Malone and Laganview wedding suites, a remodelling of the lobby and creation of the Great Oak conference centre.

Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts is the upscale, full service hotel brand from InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG).

IHG awarded Andras Hotels the first Crowne Plaza franchise in Northern Ireland franchise in 2016, showing commitment and confidence for the 38-year-old company whom it has a long-standing relationship with.

Rajesh Rana, director of Andras Hotels, said: “We've been working extremely hard over the past number of years to ensure that the Crowne Plaza offers a luxury, comfortable stay with the very best services, amenities and hospitality offering to rival any in Ireland.

“The entire team are happy to have reached the final stage of this journey which allows us to significantly further our offering and meet the demand for bed space a stone’s throw from the city centre.

“The hotel continues to benefit enormously from visitors both internationally and indeed our neighbours in the south of Ireland, we feel this is also due to our location close to the city and the main arterial routes and the fact that we are within an area of outstanding natural beauty in the Lagan Valley Regional Park which offers our residents something truly unique.

“Our conference and wedding market remains incredibly strong and we are proud to have the largest conference offering in Belfast and the most fantastic wedding venue offering, catering from 50 to 500 guests.”

Rajesh added: “This is a major investment and a vote of confidence in Belfast and Northern Ireland by Andras Hotels and IHG for future business prospects in this discerning and buoyant market. I thank our exceptional team of builders, designers and our in-house staff for their continued level of excellence and our customers for their patience whilst our works were carried out.”

Andras Hotels was founded in Belfast in 1981 and currently operates five internationally-branded hotels with 700 beds in the city, including the new Hampton by Hilton Hotel in the city’s Hope Street, opened just last week.