THE FIVE-star Westbury Hotel in Dublin is making 35 staff redundant as part of cost-saving measures being implemented by its owner, the Doyle Collection.
The company declined to comment yesterday but it is understood that 10 staff have already been made redundant while an additional 25 staff will leave by the end of this year.
Staff received 5½-weeks pay for each year of service, inclusive of statutory entitlements.
The redundancies followed a long consultation process between the hotel’s owners and trade union Siptu.
The process involved the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court.
Among the Labour Court’s recommendations was a two-year pay pause and the abolition of a service charge.
The Doyle Collection had argued that the Westbury Hotel, which is situated off Dublin’s Grafton Street, was loss-making and that it needed to save €800,000 a year for the property to remain viable.
Separately, latest accounts for Torriam Hotel Operating Company Ltd, the entity which manages the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, show it made a loss of €7.6 million in 2010.
The hotel, which is run by the Marriott chain, posted a loss of €2.9 million in 2009.
Torriam’s turnover from “continuing operations” fell slightly to €9.3 million last year from €9.9 million in 2009.
The increased losses were due to revenues from “discontinued operations” not recurring last year and a €1.3 million rise in administration expenses.
The Shelbourne’s employee numbers reduced from 486 to 323 during the year.
The staff costs declined to €9.2 million from €12.6 million in 2009.
The Shelbourne Hotel was redeveloped during the boom by a consortium of investors, including developers Bernard McNamara and Jerry O’Reilly.