Powerscourt Hotel presses case for staff accommodation block on site

Staff accommodation on the grounds of the five-star Powerscourt Hotel Resort and Spa is a reasonable solution to the housing and rental crisis and staff shortages facing the hospitality industry. That is according to consultants for the luxury Co Wicklow hotel.

McGill Planning’s comments come in a submission rebutting a planning appeal against the approval granted for the 56-bed staff block at the luxury hotel located near Enniskerry.

Scalaheen, a company controlled by the Slazenger family who own the Powerscourt Estate, lodged an appeal last August against the decision by Wicklow County Council to grant permission to the Wicklow Hotel Partnership for the staff accommodation that would be sited on an existing car park.

The hotel sought permission for the staff quarters last June as it was having to house staff in hotel suites at the resort due to the lack of accommodation locally.

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McGill Planning told the council that this was hitting hotel revenues and “is not a sustainable business model”. Floor plans lodged with the application confirmed that more than 25 hotel suites were being used to accommodate staff at the time.

“The use of hotel bedrooms for temporary bedrooms for staff has come out of necessary rather than desire, due to the chronic shortage of rental accommodation, which has also resulted in this planning application,” McGill said in its submission. The hotel employs 350 people making it one of Wicklow’s largest single site employers.

The Powerscourt hotel resort is part of the MHL Collection, a consortium led by US billionaire John Malone, and was purchased for more than €50 million in 2019.

“Exasperated [sic] by the current housing crisis, the [lack of] availability of affordable housing near Powerscourt has resulted in the hotel experiencing great difficulty in attracting prospective employees,” McGill says on behalf of the hotel. “The proposed development is intended to provide a stop gap for staff who come to the hotel so that they can get started working without the stress of looking for rental accommodation.”

The submission states that the development is essential to the continued operation of the hotel as it provides essential facilities for staff. It maintains that the concept of staff accommodation is not new and that precedent has been established for this type of development in other hotels.