Belfast’s much anticipated George Best Hotel has gone into administration without ever welcoming a single guest through the doors.
The renovation of the prestigious Donegall Square South building is almost completed and the hotel had been due to open in June.
But now joint administrators Matthew Ingram and Michael Lennon of Duff & Phelps have been appointed.
They said: “We recognise the value of the George Best Hotel as a finished development and trading hotel. In so far as it is possible, advance bookings and reservations remain unaffected.
“We will be exploring all options with the current funders to maximise value and ultimately the return to creditors.
“We are aware that there are a number of bedroom investors that have paid deposits, we will be contacting all investors at the earliest opportunity to confirm our appointment and gather further information.”
Entrepreneur Lawrence Kenwright had originally planned to open the hotel in the former Scottish Mutual Building in the summer of 2018.
But in January after a series of delays and planning approval glitches, he set a new opening date of June 2020.
During the delay Signature Living compensated a number of couples who had booked the venue for wedding receptions last year.
And in June 2019, the company offered more than 20 Belfast staff, who had been on its payroll since late 2018, redundancy packages or the chance to relocate to its hotels in Liverpool or Cardiff.
Mr Kenwright said in January that funding was in place to complete the construction of The George Best Hotel.
