Grand Central Hotel opens its doors.
Hastings Grand Central Hotel, the largest and most expensively constructed hotel project ever seen in Northern Ireland has opened its doors.
Residents of Belfast have watched over the past two years as Windsor House has transformed from an unloved office block to the key feature on Belfast’s skyline, with its unmistakeable Seahorse logos and shimmering charcoal panels visible across the city.
The Northern Ireland hotel scene is enjoying a period of rapid expansion, and the 300 opulently appointed bedrooms in Grand Central mark the greatest leap forward to date.
The hotel is much more than this, though. With its dramatic “double height” space on the ground and first floor levels, it is international in outlook, and cosmopolitan in feel. No expense has been spared on its marble flooring, its plush fabrics and its dramatic interior lighting.
The £53 million committed to this project by Hastings Hotels has created an unmistakeably upscale venue for locals and visitors alike.
Stephen Meldrum, General Manager of the Grand Central Hotel said: “We are delighted to open the doors of the Grand Central Hotel and see the vision of our late Chairman, Sir William Hastings, be fully recognised. The Grand Central Hotel is a really unique proposition for Belfast. No detail has been overlooked and we are excited to bring a new era to the city. The teams have been working hard over recent weeks to get the hotel open on time and we are looking forward to welcoming our first guests from the prestigious Hosts Global Forum who are staying with us this week.”
It is a hotel which exudes personality, with its bedroom suites paying homage to the Linen Barons who first occupied the Linen Quarter in which the Grand Central sits, to Sir William Hastings, the founder of the Hastings Hotels Group who have delivered this new project.
Its dining options range from the city chic Grand Café on the ground floor, to the design led Seahorse Bar & Restaurant overlooking Bedford Street, to the small plates cocktail lounge on the 23rd floor, which has been named The Observatory.