‘Most expensive’ hotel build in Northern Ireland opens

Hastings Grand Central Hotel, the ‘largest and most expensively constructed hotel project ever seen in Northern Ireland’, has opened its doors.

The £53m project has taken two years to transform the former Windsor House into the 300-room Hastings Grand Central.

The hotel features ‘double height’ space on the ground and first floor levels and is aimed to be “international in outlook, and cosmopolitan in feel”.

The hotel’s bedroom suites are designed to pay homage to the Linen Barons who first occupied the Linen Quarter in which the Grand Central sits and to Sir William Hastings, the founder of the Hastings Hotels Group, which has delivered the new project.

The property also offers three dining spaces with the Grand Café on the ground floor, the design-led Seahorse Bar & Restaurant overlooking Bedford Street, and a small plates cocktail lounge on the 23rd floor, which has been named The Observatory.

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.”