When the demolition men remove what is left of the Eden Beach Hotel at St George’s Bay later this month, they will clear the way for work to start on Eden Leisure Group’s new 450-room property.
The £33m development will incorporate conference and leisure facilities to ensure its appeal to a wide market.
Managing director Ian De Cesare said: “In the early 1980s, 200 beds was a large operation – now a hotel needs to be bigger to be successful.”
Conference facilities include a 650sq metre arena and five syndicate rooms. “With three five-star hotels and the Hilton opening soon, St George’s Bay is now very big for conferences,” said De Cesare.
“The five-star hotels have had a very good year, with 75% occupancies – much of it due to conference business. With 450 rooms, we’ll be able to handle even larger gatherings.”
Expansion of the Eden Leisure Group started in 1985, with the opening of a sports centre. The Eden Palladium nightclub followed in 1989 and in 1991 ELG hit the airwaves by launching Bay Radio.
Only 100 metres from ELG’s hotel development, a new shopping and entertainment precinct due to be completed this summer will include bars, restaurants and retail outlets.
Roads in the St George’s Bay area will be part pedestrianised following completion of multi-storey parking for 320 cars that will serve the new Eden Leisure Group complex. Meanwhile, plans are in hand to extend the small sandy beach at St George’s Bay – the first of several government-backed beach projects to replenish existing sandy stretches of coast.