Business

IHG sign deal with Andras House for new 132-room Belfast aparthotel

Staybridge Suites Belfast is due to open for guests towards the end of 2027

View of Bedford Street, Belfast.
An artist's impression of the Bedford Yard development in Belfast, which is due to open as Staybridge Suites Belfast in 2027. Inset is an example of a typical Staybridge room.
By Ryan McAleer

The InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has confirmed it has signed up for a new aparthotel-style venture in Belfast city centre, which is due to open at the end of 2027.

The global hospitality giant said its latest deal with Andras House is for Staybridge Suites Belfast.

IHG has 10 Staybridge Suites sites across Europe, with none currently on the island of Ireland.

The concept includes a fully-equipped kitchen, with one and two-bedroom suites.

The new Belfast location will feature 132 units, based in a new 13-storey development, set to be built on Bedford Street, opposite the BBC’s headquarters on Ormeau Avenue.

Planning permission was granted for the Bedford Yard project in February 2021.

It will see the retention of the three terraced buildings facing onto Bedford Street, between JD Wetherspoon’s and Pizza Express, with the new high-rise development built behind.

IHG signed the Andras deal in October 2023, representing its fourth partnership with the family-owned Belfast hotel group, now headed by Rajesh Rana.

A collage of two images: On the left is a kitchen area with a dining surface and right is a living area.
Staybridge Suites typically feature a kitchen and other apartment style features.

IHG has also signed up with the iNua group to open a Voco hotel in Belfast’s Gasworks.

The Cork-based hotel group acquired the former Radisson Blu Hotel in November 2023.

Temporarily rebranded as The Gasworks Hotel, a £3.5 million refurbishment project is due to take place over the next nine months, with the 120-bed Voco Belfast set to open towards the end of 2024.

Meanwhile, Andras House has also submitted a planning application for another aparthotel project on Great Victoria Street, just a stone’s throw from the site of the Bedford Yard development.

The group bought Dorchester House in 2020.

Belfast City Council is currently assessing the Andras proposal to convert the former HMRC offices into an aparthotel under Accor’s Adagio brand.

Andras also recently acquired a site in Belfast next to Shaftesbury Square for £1.7m.

The Botanic Avenue car park site was previously marketed as a ‘prime development site’.

Aparthotels, which are typically styled as a bridge between hotel rooms and serviced apartments, are a growing trend in Belfast.

Room2 opened the city’s first aparthotel on Queen Street in October 2023.

Work has also started on JMK’s new Aloft & Residence Inn by Marriott in the Titanic Quarter, which will be a mix of hotel and aparthotel units.

Lotus is also developing a £20m aparthotel on Wellington Place under the Sonder brand.