Luxury hotel group O’Callaghan Collection plans big extension at The Alex Hotel in Dublin city centre

Hospitality

Terrace the Alex hotel in Dublin city centre

Sean Pollock

Hotel group O’Callaghan Collection plans to develop a large extension to The Alex Hotel in Dublin city centre.

Persian Properties, which counts members of the O’Callaghan family as directors, has applied to Dublin City Council seeking planning permission to build a new hotel extension around the site of the four-star Alex Hotel. The development address includes the existing ‘Hospitality House��� office building, which would be demolished as part of the proposed works.

The development would consist of an eight-storey overground floor extension with conference rooms. It would also include the refurbishment of ground and lower ground levels of the existing hotel building.

The proposed hotel and conferencing extension contains a spa and staff facilities.

O’Callaghan Collection declined to comment on the proposed expansion.

The family-run company is a group of five hotels in Dublin and Gibraltar.

O’Callaghan Collection started in 1990 with its first hotel, The Mont Clare on the corner of Merrion Square in Dublin. Its name was recently changed to The Mont Hotel.

​The firm also owns Só Living, a luxury apartment rental agency, The Davenport and the Stephen’s Green Hotel, rebranded as The Green in 2018.

The Alex Hotel, located on Dublin’s Fenian Street, was previously known as The Alexander Hotel before being refurbished and renamed in 2017. It currently has 103 bedrooms.

According to media reports in 2017, the group invested €30m into the renovation of three of its Dublin properties, including The Alex, The Green and the Davenport on Merrion Street. The Davenport opened in 1993, the Alexander in 1997 and The Green in 2000.

CBRE’s 2024 European Hotel Investor Intentions Survey showed strong investor interest in European hotels.