Construction Begins on £20 Million Staycity Aparthotel in Belfast City Centre
Construction has begun on a £20 million Staycity aparthotel in Belfast city centre, marking the Dublin-based hospitality group's first venture into Northern Ireland. The 98-room development at the former Beaufort House office building on Wellington Place is being developed by Lotus Property with funding from Danske Bank, and is expected to open in May 2027.
The project represents a significant vote of confidence in Belfast's growing visitor economy and signals the continued transformation of the city centre, where a wave of hotel investment is reshaping the hospitality landscape ahead of a series of major events and tourism milestones.
Background
Staycity Group is a Dublin-based aparthotel operator founded in 2004, operating two distinct brands: Staycity Aparthotels, which caters to price-conscious travellers, and Wilde Aparthotels, a more upscale, design-led offering. The company has an aggressive expansion strategy, with a goal to operate over 15,000 units by 2028, targeting key city-centre locations across Europe including upcoming openings in Lisbon, Porto, and Amsterdam.
The Belfast property is set to be the blueprint for a refreshed Staycity brand concept, making the city the launchpad for the company's new design and guest experience. The development involves the conversion of the former Beaufort House office building into a nine-storey aparthotel featuring 98 studio and one-bedroom apartments. Lotus Property is leading the development, with Danske Bank providing the funding package.
Belfast has emerged as a major tourism success story in recent years, recognised by Lonely Planet as a top region to visit and winning awards as a leading conference and events destination. The city welcomed 158 cruise ships and 320,000 visitors in 2023 alone, generating an estimated £20 million in tourism spending. The £1 billion Belfast Region City Deal is further enhancing the visitor experience and encouraging longer stays.
Key Developments
Construction began in April 2026, with a scheduled opening in May 2027. The Wellington Place site, in the heart of Belfast's commercial district, offers immediate access to the city's key cultural and business attractions, making it well-positioned to serve both leisure and corporate travellers.
Staycity's Belfast entry comes as the city's hotel market continues to expand rapidly. As of early 2024, Belfast had 1,384 new hotel bedrooms in the pipeline across 13 different projects, in addition to the existing 5,040 rooms already available. Notable developments include an Aloft Hotel and Residence Inn by Marriott in the Titanic Quarter, The Dean Hotel on Bedford Street, and the arrival of Moxy by Marriott and Voco in the city. This wave of investment underscores the high demand and investor confidence in Belfast's hospitality sector.
Why It Matters
The Staycity development is significant for several reasons. As the group's first Northern Ireland property, it signals that Belfast has reached a level of maturity and visitor demand that attracts major European hospitality brands. The choice of Belfast as the launchpad for Staycity's refreshed brand concept is a particularly strong endorsement — it suggests the company sees the city not merely as a market to enter, but as a flagship location that will define its next phase of growth. This kind of brand confidence is hard-won and reflects years of sustained investment in Belfast's tourism infrastructure and reputation.
The conversion of a former office building into a hotel also reflects a broader trend in Belfast's city centre, where the shift to hybrid and remote working has left commercial properties available for repurposing. Adaptive reuse of this kind is good for the city's built environment, preserving historic fabric while meeting new demand. It also avoids the need for new-build development on greenfield sites, making it a more sustainable approach to expanding the city's accommodation capacity. The Beaufort House conversion is a model that other developers and local authorities across Northern Ireland would do well to study.
Local Impact
For Belfast, the Staycity development is another piece in a rapidly assembling jigsaw of hospitality investment that is transforming the city's capacity to host visitors. The creation of new hotel rooms directly supports the tourism economy, which employs tens of thousands of people across Northern Ireland and generates hundreds of millions of pounds in annual revenue. Visit Belfast has consistently highlighted the need for additional quality accommodation to support the city's ambitions as a major conference and events destination, and developments like Staycity directly address that gap.
The development will also create construction jobs during the build phase and permanent hospitality roles once the property opens. For Wellington Place and the surrounding area, the arrival of a major aparthotel brand will bring additional footfall and spending to local businesses, contributing to the ongoing regeneration of Belfast's city centre. The project is part of a broader pattern of investment that is making Belfast an increasingly attractive destination for both domestic and international visitors, with the city's reputation for warmth, culture, and value for money continuing to grow.
What's Next
The Staycity Belfast aparthotel is expected to open in May 2027. Full details of the development are available from Belfast Live. Information about Staycity's wider expansion plans can be found at Staycity Group's development website.
