Plans go in to turn famous Hastings Group hotel into an old people's home and medical centre

A consultation is now open into the plans which would see the existing Stormont Hote building in east Belfast re-purposed, and extra accommodation built on what is now its car park.

The hotel stands almost directly opposite Stormont itself, with the ‘Royal Mile’ (the long driveway and estate leading up to Parliament Buildings) being just across the road.

It has long been known for catering to politicians and their entourages, and hosting speeches and conferences; for example it was one of the venues for the Haass talks in 2013, and has been the staging ground of meetings between NI leaders and their Dublin and London counterparts.

The hotel is arguably the birthplace of the whole Hastings Group empire, which today encompasses that Europa Hotel, Culloden, and the new and towering Grand Central Hotel in Belfast, plus the Everglades Hotel in Londonderry, and the Ballygally Castle Hotel to the north of Larne (it used to run the Slieve Donard Hotel in Newcastle but sold it in 2021).

The group began when Sir William Hastings bought Stormont Hotel in 1966 (as well as the Adair Arms in Ballymena); back then it had 10 rooms, and now has over 100.

The plans have actually been in the pipeline since 2022, when plans were unveiled by property consultancy Turley for the “Summerhill Retirement” complex.

It would mean retaining most of the main hotel building and demolishing/extending the easternmost part, turning the whole thing into a “care home” and “medical facility”.

Meanwhile new villas and/or apartment blocks would be built to its west.

What has happened now is that two parallel sets of blueprints have gone in for much the same development.

The first reads as follows: Change of use of an existing hotel, conference centre and offices to a 97-bed care home and 1,559sq metre diagnostic medical facility with associated access, car parking, landscaping and open space.

The second is more general: Outline planning permission with all matters reserved for independent living and assisted living retirement apartments, associated internal access roads, communal open space, revised access from Castleview Road, associated car parking, servicing, amenity space and landscaping.

The plans are now being submitted to various agencies (NI Environment Agency, Belfast City Council, etc) to gauge their opinions on it.

The plans are being driven by Summerhill Retirement Developments Ltd, a company set up in 2022 with the express purpose of pursuing the development.

It will likely fall to Belfast city councillors to approve or reject the plans at an as-yet-unknown later date.