A POPULAR Derry hotel has reported an increase of a third in its wedding business following the completion of a £1.5 million refurbishment earlier this year.
The Hastings-owned Everglades Hotel has recorded a 33 per cent jump in wedding bookings and a 15 per cent rise in business events since the opening of its new Grand Ballroom in April.
The event space has been transformed as part of a £1.5m refurbishment, with the ballroom now the largest of its kind in the north west and capable of accommodating up to 650 people theatre style and over 400 when set up for round table events.
Neil Devlin, general manager of the Everglades Hotel said they are delighted with the response from the public following the major refurbishment.
"We can now accommodate a wider range of larger conferences, gala dinners and business functions which we previously couldn’t," Mr Devlin said.
"We are delighted to be helping to bring new business to the city, this has included the annual conference of a public body which was held in the north west for the first time and attended by 320 delegates.
“In addition to this, we have continued to grow the internal events organised by the hotel and the Grand Ballroom now provides us with the opportunity of attracting artists that wouldn’t have been possible before. For example, we look forward to welcoming musical theatres’ leading men and X Factor stars, Rhydian Roberts and G4 frontman Jonathan Ansell, who will be bringing their nationwide musical show Les Musicals to the Everglades in October," he added.
It has been a busy year for the Hastings Hotel Group with the seventh addition to the portfolio, the 300-bed Grand Central Hotel opening its doors in June. The £53m hotel, located on the site of former office space Windsor House is the north’s largest and most expensively constructed hotel. The Group also recorded healthy growth in both turnover and profits in its latest set of accounts, published last month. The group saw its turnover rise by 7.8 per cent from £36.8 million to just shy of £40 million (£39.6m) in the year ending October 31, while
pre-tax profits increased marginally from £4.9m to £5.2m over the 12 months.
