A Carrickfergus hotel has applied for planning permission for an extension that would add over two dozen bedrooms.
The Premier Inn on Alexandra Pier in the town would have 89 bedrooms if the extension is completed.
It is located near the Rodgers Quay leisure complex, a boat yard and sailing complex, a Sainsbury’s and a cinema.
According to an application filed with the Planning Service, the extension will be built on a section of the site currently used for car parking,
As a result, 10 parking spaces would be removed from the current 182.
The hotel has been granted planning permission twice before: in 2004 when it was first built and again in 2009, the second instance being for an extension that is currently part of the hotel.
The extension will be completed in the style of the existing hotel, and will meet what the application describes as “considerable demand for additional budget hotel accommodation in this location”.
The proposed three-storey annex would create 29 new rooms while losing four from the current hotel, bringing the overall new room total to 25.
The application further says that the development will support the economy of the local area. Meanwhile, the Premier Inn on Derry’s Crescent Link has been listed for sale.
The owners have confirmed this, but do not “have news of a buyer to share at this stage”. The hotel market has been busy in Derry recently, with Da Vinci’s transferring ownership from the Garvan O’Doherty Group to Edmund and Patrick Simpson.
The Simpsons are hoteliers originally from Co Donegal who own Belfast’s Landsdowne and Benedicts hotels.
And the Premier Inn located on Belfast’s Alfred Street has had its asking price reduced by over £1m.
The Irish News first reported that it has been re-set at £8.5m, after first being listed in July 2022 for £9.9m.
It has 148 rooms and is let to the hotel group, part of Whitbread plc.