Westwood Hotel gets nine-month reprieve

Plans to build 400 student beds on the site of the Westwood Hotel have stalled – with the hotel now set to remain in operation until at least September.

It was revealed in February 2017 that the hotel had been bought by Ziggurat Student Investment Fund – a UK-based pension fund specialising in the construction of high-end student accommodation.

When the sale was completed, it was announced that the hotel would cease operations in early 2018 – with construction to begin in early this summer.

However, it has now been confirmed that the hotel will be open as normal for at least nine months.

Former owner of the Westwood, hotelier and publican, Terry Sweeney, says that they will continue to operate on the site until September or October.

“The sale is complete but we will be running it to the best of our ability and looking forward to welcoming old, returning and new guests over the coming months,” said Mr Sweeney.

The proposal to demolish the hotel and increase student numbers in the area was met with outrage by local residents who said they will be at the loss of the only amenity they have in the area.

In a meeting with residents in May of last year, Atelier – the management company that will run the new apartments – said they would be submitting a planning permission application in August 2017.

The application never came to fruition and as of yet, a submission has not been made to Galway City Council or An Bord Pleanála.

Local councillor, Ollie Crowe, said that the company in question had only met with city planners on one occasion since they took ownership of the property.

“They have only had one preparatory meeting with City Council in the last 12 months.

“For a project of this size, a planning application would take a number of meetings,” said Cllr Crowe.

He believed that it was disingenuous of Atelier to state that the hotel would be closing its doors, only to come along later and extend operations.

“The reality is that there would have been bookings for the hotel cancelled because it was believed it would be closing – to a person who runs a business like myself, it just doesn’t make sense.

“It would cost a significant sum of money to put this planning application together – I would say well in excess of €200k to €300k,” added the Fianna Fáil councillor.

He said he continued to support the residents in their opposition to the proposals – and said that the loss of the hotel would remove the only meeting space available to people in the area.

Ziggurat Student Investment Fund has constructed student accommodation across the UK and Ireland – with sites already completed in Cork and Dublin.

A spokesperson for Atelier was not available for comment when contacted by the Galway City Tribune.