A Tralee hotel has been granted planning for an ambitious extension increasing the number of guest rooms by over 50%.
The Ballygarry Estate, Hotel and Spa hotel applied for permission to construct 36 new bedrooms within a three-storey extension on its lands.
Separately, the Ballygarry is seeking planning to build 12 small cabins on the lands of the estate for guests to enjoy a holiday with fewer carbon emissions.
The Ballygarry Estate, Hotel and Spa applied to Kerry County Council for planning permission to build the three-storey extension on the western side of the existing hotel.
It’s to contain 36 new bedrooms, but the hotel will lose three rooms in order to connect the existing building with the extension.
It will bring the total number of guest bedrooms from 64 to 97.
The extension will also result in the removal of 42 car parking spaces, but these will be replaced and another 33 spaces provided in three new car parks around the extension.
The hotel’s planning application wrote the extension will sit harmoniously in its surroundings and integrate seamlessly with the existing hotel.
The council granted permission subject to five conditions.
Separately, the Ballygarry is seeking planning permission to build 12 single-storey cabins on the lands of the estate for an eco-tourism offering.
The 2.5-metre tall cabins would be accessed by the hotel’s electric golf buggy, which is to offer a shuttle service for guests to and from the hotel as necessary, with 1.5-metre footpaths and three-metre access ways for the buggy.
The council was due to decide on the application by 24th October, but has requested further information about this development.
The Ballygarry must now address issues including the risk of flooding of some of the cabins, as well as potential disturbances to the Lesser Horseshoe Bat, within the next six months.
