Park Inn Hotel to reopen as Moxy after takeover
The former Park Inn Hotel in Belfast city centre is set to reopen next year after being snapped up by a major Irish hotel group.
MHL Hotel Collection has agreed to acquire the Clarence Street West property from May Street Capital and the purchase will represent its first acquisition outside the Republic of Ireland, bringing its total number of hotels on the island to 14.
Previously operated as the Park Inn by Radisson Belfast, the 145-bed property is within walking distance of Belfast City Hall, Ulster Hall and Victoria Square Shopping Centre as well as the many restaurants, bars and nightlife that the Cathedral Quarter has to offer.
The Park Inn by Radisson had closed to the public during 2021 and it is understood the hotel has been contracted since then to house asylum seekers.
The acquisition is expected to complete before the end of this year and following a planned £7m (€8.2m) refurbishment programme, the hotel will re-open in first half of 2025.
Discussions are already at an advanced stage to brand the hotel as a Moxy by Marriot, making the fourth hotel owned and operated by MHL Hotel Collection under a franchise agreement from Marriott International and would become the second Moxy by Marriott within the collection.
The MHL Collection also owns the Powerscourt Hotel in Wicklow and Dublin’s five star College Green and interContinental hotels.
Paul Higgins, Partner, MHL Hotel Collection, above, said: “We are very pleased and excited to have signed contracts to acquire our first hotel in Belfast. The major £7m refurbishment will transform the hotel. We have seen how much guests love our fun and contemporary Moxy Dublin City Hotel, and we look forward to bringing the Moxy brand to the heart of Belfast.
“We also look forward to engaging with local businesses and organisations in the region so we are best placed to support the local economy and hospitality sector, not least by creating up to 60 full and part time roles”.
Moxy had previously been linked with a proposed 164-bed hotel in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter.
Planning permission for the venture in the former Nambarrie Tea building was granted in 2022, but little progress has been made on the project since then.
The move to acquire the hotel comes just a few months after Irish hotel group iNua made its entry into the Northern Ireland market by acquiring the former Radisson Blu Hotel in the city’s Gasworks.
Donall McCann of May Street Capital added: “We are delighted to have signed contracts with MHL Hotel Collection and we look forward to welcoming them and Moxy to Clarence West Belfast.”
MHL were advised by Arthur Cox and Deloitte. May Street Capital were advised by MMW, Grant Thronton and ASM, and deal was brokered by JLL Dublin.
