Planners say hotel expansion plan is too extensive for site

Plans for redevelopment works at the Maldron Hotel on the Headford Road – bringing it up to a 150-bedroom property with modern conference rooms – have hit a stumbling block with Galway City Council.

Planners believe the overhaul would represent an overdevelopment of the 1.3-acre site.

Pat McCann’s Lintal Commercial Ltd (part of the Dalata Hotels Group) had sought permission for extensive works at the hotel, which the company purchased in 2014 for €10.5 million.

The application comes following the recovery in the country’s hotel sector.

The plans involve:
■ The conversion of basement offices to fitness/gym use;
■ Modifications to the bar and kitchen and ground floor retail units to a conference/business centre with eight meeting rooms;
■ The conversion of the meeting rooms on the first floor to two bedrooms and the conversion of the existing gym to two bedrooms;
■ The conversion of second floor conference rooms to five bedrooms and the conversion of the spa and offices to 16 bedrooms;
■ The conversion of the third and fourth floor conference rooms to a total of nine bedrooms.
■ The retention of 14 bedrooms which were already constructed without permission on the first floor.

“The proposal is to create a business centre on the ground floor of the hotel by changing the vacant retail units into meeting rooms and it is intended that the business centre will help facilitate conferences and seminars in the city.

“In addition, the existing spa and offices on the second floor of the hotel are to be changed to bedrooms and a new gym and fitness centre is to be created in the basement of the hotel. In total, it is proposed that the redeveloped hotel will have 149 bedrooms.

“This application is made in the context of the recent recovery in the hotel sector across the country, the extent of which suggests that hotels in the country’s cities are near capacity during peak times.

“A recent report by the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation noted that the demand for hotel accommodation within many Irish cities is close to supply and that a scarcity of hotel rooms threatens to harm the tourist sector. This research has further suggested that the limited availability of hotel rooms in Irish cities has the potential to cause a bottleneck that is likely to damage the full potential of Ireland’s economic growth.

“There is significant merit in the development of new hotel accommodation within Galway City. Such accommodation, for which there is an urgent need, will support the continued growth of the city’s tourism sector and its overall economic development,” the application reads.

However, City Council planners have said the proposals are above the permitted plot ratios in the current City Development Plan, and would therefore represent an overdevelopment of the site, asking Dalata to comment on the matter.

The applicant has also been asked to clarify when the 14 unauthorised bedrooms became operational and to confirm if the building conforms with all health and safety regulations.

The Dalata Group now has six months to respond to the request for further information, or the application will be deemed to be withdrawn.