The hotel, pub and leisure sector is making a strong recovery and occupancy levels, room rates and valuations are back to pre-pandemic levels in many cases.
third of Ireland’s hotel bedrooms are occupied by refugees, a humanitarian crisis but a financial boon for many hoteliers over the winter. However, with tourism numbers rebounding strongly, there is now a shortage of accommodation.
It’s no surprise the Top Hotels Construction Database says there are 51 hotel projects in Ireland, either in planning, under construction, or fitting-out.
For a better feel for activity in the market, I met with John Duffy, the managing director of John Duffy Design Group, a general architectural practice with a speciality in hotel, restaurant, bars and spa design.
The firm has designed multiple hotels across Europe, Africa and Asia and worked with brands including Radisson, Marriot, Ramada and Best Western.
A recent project was the fit-out of a 150-bed hotel in Kazakhstan and they are currently designing a 150-bed Radisson hotel in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia.
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In Ireland, Mr Duffy has recently worked on a number of five-star hotels including Sheen Falls, Kenmare, Castlemartyr Manor House, Cork including Terre, its Michelin-starred restaurant. Current projects the 12-strong practice is engaged with include the Pembroke Hotel, Kilkenny, Tulfarris Resort Hotel in Blessington, Co Wicklow and Bunratty Castle Hotel, Co Clare.
After a good bed and a shower, what makes you different?
Much of the work Mr Duffy is seeing here is the extension of hotels and upgrading of bedrooms and public areas. A distinct trend, he told me, is the repurposing of public spaces for meetings, events, and even “pop-up” private dining areas. “It’s all about personalisation and creating a unique guest experience,” he said.
“We now have aparthotels and even co-working areas. The pandemic experience of more working from home has accelerated that shift. “Hotels in the future will be reimagined in the public and bedroom areas.
“Bedrooms will be designed for living, multitasking as a gym, dining room and office. Smart features will become standard with interactive walls and voice and gesture control of heating and lighting.”
Many hotels focus on being eco-friendly, but in the future every hotel will be fully sustainable, Mr Duffy continued. Hotels will be built with minimal impact on the environment, using sustainable building products.
They will have a garden, systems to recycle and reduce waste and larger balconies with grass and trees to offset the carbon footprint.
He is particularly proud of the work at Terre, which involved a redesign of the existing restaurant. “Your design has to follow the style of the food,” he told me. The project included creating the salon, kitchen and main dining room, all planned “to take the guest on a journey through a series of spaces”. All of the bespoke furniture was made locally.
The project at Bunratty Castle Hotel saw the rebuilding and upgrading of the public areas following a fire, while all 140 bedrooms remained occupied by Ukrainian refugees.
The building is a protected structure so a conservation architect was also involved.
Mr Duffy foresees increasing combinations of hotels with restaurants and high-end apartments. His architect son, Declan, has now joined the practice, and has a particular interest in high-end residential development.
“The challenge for the brands is to differentiate – after a good bed and a shower, what makes you different?”
