Premier Inn to occupy redeveloped Moore's Hotel site

PREMIER Inn has been announced as the hotel brand that will occupy a redeveloped site on Morrison’s Quay.

The British hotel chain is already established at Dublin Airport and has plans for three further branches in the capital, but its 183-bed Cork branch will the first outside Dublin on the site of the former Moore’s Hotel in the city centre.

The owner of the Premier Inn brand, Whitbread, have said their hotel will be within a five-minute walk of the events centre which they have described as being currently “under construction”.

Planning was granted for the events centre earlier this month by Cork City Council. 

The hotel development, by the Dublin-based Greenleaf Group, will include the conservation, modification and restoration of three protected structures at numbers 11, 12 and 13 Morrison’s Quay to allow for three new office buildings.

A new-build four to six-storey office and hotel development is also slated for the site.

The historic Moore's hotel, with three varied 19th-century facades, ceased trading 15 years ago and was placed on the derelicts sites register last year.

The new development will include 183 hotel bedrooms, seating areas, a restaurant, public bar, kitchen, hotel offices and a courtyard at ground level.

Kevin Murray, head of acquisitions for Whitbread in Ireland, said:

“Securing a new Premier Inn hotel at Morrison’s Quay is a major milestone in our expansion into Ireland as it marks our first site outside of Dublin. Cork has an exciting future as a cultural and educational centre, so we see real potential in the business and leisure markets here. With significant additional bedroom requirements, we’re actively seeking freehold and leasehold opportunities for Premier Inn right across the country”.

Mark Elliott, director of the Greenleaf Group said:

“The proposed development at Morrison's Island is an important regeneration scheme for Cork. It covers a prominent and vacant city block on Morrison's Island.”