One of the largest hotel groups in Ireland has opened a new £45m location in Manchester city centre, creating almost 90 jobs.
Dalata Hotel Group has launched the four-star, 18-storey Clayton Hotel in Portland Street which includes 329 rooms.
The hotel, which has created 87 jobs, also features five meeting rooms which can host up to 153 delegates.
READ MORE: Top Boohoo investor slashes stake by more than half in major shares sell off
The main contractor for the construction was Russell WBHO on behalf of Property Alliance Group.
The site was previously home to a 12-storey office block which was demolished as part of the project.
The site is the group’s second in the area alongside Clayton Hotel Manchester Airport.
Next month Dalata, which also owns Maldron Hotels, will open the Maldron Hotel in the city centre.
Dermot Crowley, chief executive of the Dalata Hotel Group said: "This is the first of six new hotels that we are opening in the first half of this year.
"Four of these hotels are in the UK. We have four further properties in our UK hotel pipeline, showing our continued commitment to our UK expansion strategy. We continue to look for further opportunities in the large cities around the UK.
"Dalata has had a presence in Manchester since 2015 with the Clayton Hotel Manchester Airport.
"By the end of February this year, we will have a Clayton and Maldron hotel in the city centre with construction due to get underway this year for another Maldron Hotel on Chapel Street in the city.
"Clayton Hotel Manchester City Centre has been made possible through the hard work of our partners on the project – Russell WHBO who constructed the hotel, Property Alliance Group who put together the project as developers, and Aviva who funded the scheme. I hope that we can work together again on future projects.
"We recognise the current challenges in recruiting and retaining people in the hospitality industry as a result of Covid.
"We look to overcome these challenges by offering people opportunities to grow their careers in Dalata within a culture of integrity, fairness and inclusion.
"We have assembled a great team under general manager Filiz Smith who moved from the Clayton Hotel Manchester Airport where she had been deputy general manager since 2018.
"Many of the team have moved to the hotel from other Dalata hotels in the UK.
"I look forward to seeing this new hotel become an established part of the Manchester community in the coming months and years."
Sheona Southern, managing director at Marketing Manchester, added: "The opening of this brand-new 329 bedroom hotel presents a significant mark of confidence in the strength of the visitor economy in Greater Manchester and specifically Manchester city centre, as well as an important level of investment along the Portland Street corridor.
"I wish the team every success with their opening and we at Marketing Manchester look forward to working in partnership to promote the hotel as both a leisure and business tourism destination."
Alex Russell, managing director of Property Alliance Group, said: "The opening of the Clayton Hotel is the culmination of several years of planning and hard work by the whole project team.
"We knew the site would be the ideal location for a hotel of this calibre and worked with our partners to deliver it quickly and effectively, despite the challenges of the pandemic.
"It’s fantastic to see the team’s efforts pay off and the Clayton Hotel begin to welcome its first Manchester visitors."
