The Directors of Hastings Hotels are delighted to announce: “Windsor House, in Bedford Street, Central Belfast has been purchased by the Hastings Hotels Group for £6.5m.

It is one of the tallest buildings in Ireland dominating the Belfast City centre skyline since its construction was completed in 1974.

Planning permission for a hotel of major city international quality will be submitted within a few weeks. Award winning Belfast Architects WDR & RT Taggarts have been engaged to develop the designs.

This will be a major construction project, and will be very much welcomed by the Northern Ireland building industry.

The hotel, when completed, will see the creation of 150 new jobs in the hospitality sector. Its prime city centre location is ideally situated to meet the urgent demand that the hotel sector requires to satisfy the growing business activity and the increase in tourism prospects.

With our philosophy of continuous reinvestment, Hastings Hotels will also continue to extend, enhance and invest in its existing six Northern Ireland hotels, and in the Merrion Hotel in Dublin.”