The Merchant Hotel in Belfast has been named the best hotel in the UK at a prestigious industry awards ceremony held this week at one of the most famous hotels in London, the Savoy. The five-star Belfast hotel received the accolade at the first edition of the International Hotel Awards run in association with Bloomberg Television.

The Merchant Hotel, which this week was also named in Fodor’s guide ’21 places to go in 2012′, went on to another level in the International Hotel Awards in which the regional category winners from all over the world went head-to-head to find the ultimate Best International Hotel, with this award ultimately going to the Palm Hotel in Dubai.

The Merchant Hotel was opened in 2006 in Waring Street after Bill Wolsey, a County Down businessman, reportedly spent around £10 million to transform the former Victorian Ulster Bank building in Belfast into one of the most lauded and well-known hotels in all of Northern Ireland. Since opening the hotel has received many awards for its accommodation, food and drink as well as for its design.

The general manager of The Merchant, Adrian McLaughlin, said the award is a reflection... Click to read more about hotels in Belfast

The latest review of the hotel industry in Northern Ireland which was produced by ASM Chartered Accountants shows that hotels in Belfast have been experiencing a lift in business and may now be facing somewhat more favourable trading conditions than in the worst days of the recent economic crisis. It is true that hotel occupancy rates have gone down as has profitability, however, the average price of a room has risen and it is expected that events like the Titanic centenary will provide an even greater boost in the near future. For example, the International Seed Federation World Seed Congress which was held in Belfast recently saw every hotel room in the city booked out for the first time in over two years.

The ASM report indicated that hotel bedroom occupancy averaged 63.4 percent in 2010 which was a small decline on 2009 when average occupancy was recorded at 64.1 percent. The average rate achieved per room was £64.83 representing a slight increase on the £63.42 recorded the year before. Total sales per bedroom averaged £37,894 for 2010, which is also slightly ahead of the 2009 figure.

Michael Williamson, director of hotel, tourism and leisure consulting... Click to read more about hotels in Belfast

Premier Inn’s Four Corners hotel in Belfast is open as usual in spite of the fact that the landlord of the building that the hotel is located in has been placed into administration. The Belfast Telegraph reports that the company that redeveloped the building on the corner of Donegall Street and Waring Street, Corner Blok, and which is the current owner, has been placed into administration by Bank of Scotland Ireland (BOSI).

The Four Corners Hotel part of the Premier Inn chain leased the building from Corner Blok and the hotel group has stated that the difficulties of its current landlord will have no effect on the running of the hotel. Keith Freeman, the regional operations manager for Ireland, said: “The Premier Inn at Waring Street, one of our six highly successful hotels in Northern Ireland, continues to trade very well and business at the hotel will in no way be affected by the administration.”

The Four Corners Hotel opened in 2008, generating some 75 jobs. The hotel has 171 rooms and also contains a popular 200-seater restaurant and bar. It is located in the bustling Cathedral quarter in Belfast and is within easy walking distance of  all the... Click to read more about hotels in Belfast

Hotels in Belfast have expressed concern that Belfast City Council is competing with them in an unfair manner by allowing the City Hall to be used as a function venue. Belfast City Hall is reported to have hosted over 600 events in 2010 and the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation claims that the use of City Hall for functions for which the organisers were not charged, means it is competing directly and unfairly against the hotels in Belfast. Belfast council maintains that a lot of the events held in City Hall were for charitable organisations and that use of Belfast City Hall for commercial events was not allowed. Nevertheless, some of the entities that have recently availed of Belfast City Hall to host events include the Federation of Small Business, the Pubs of Ulster, the Institute of Directors and the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce.

The chief executive of the Belfast based Northern Ireland Hotels Federation, Janice Gault, claimed that her organisation had been informed by some organisations that the reason they had chosen to go to City Hall was that there was no charge for using the rooms there. She said that the... Click to read more about hotels in Belfast