Four-star spa for seaside town

A 40-ROOM four-star spa hotel is to be built in a seaside town.

The “sold” sign was erected yesterday morning at the site in Donaghadee, Co Down, which was home to the bus depot until 2013.

The half-acre plot was owned by Translink who put it on the market for £300,000.

Now Urban Property Solutions, the team involved with the soon-toopen Copeland Spirits gin distillery in the town have secured the sale and are planning to hold a public meeting about proposals for the hotel by Christmas. A source said: “It’s been about 20 years since Donaghadee has had a hotel. At one stage there were five hotels in the area which created local employment and brought people into the town and they were well used by the locals too.

“So now we’ll be getting a new hotel and it will be the only one in this area of coast from Bangor to Portaferry.

“The build which is estimated will take about 18 months, will create employment for about 40 contractors for up to two years.

“And on completion the hotel will need a regular staff of around 80 to 100 people plus a lot of seasonal staff. It will be good for the town, good for employment, good for tourism and that means a lot.”

Jody Waterworth, who runs Pier 36, a family run bar/restaurant and inn, said: “Global tourism is strong in here but domestic tourism is even stronger.

“We’re approaching our 20th anniversary in the town and have gone from strength to strength even throughout the downturn, and we run at a very high occupancy level with constant demand for overnight stayed and longer holiday stays.

“This is a fantastic chance for Donaghadee for many reasons.”