The future of the only hotel in West Belfast was thrown into doubt at the weekend after administrators were appointed to take over the running of the Balmoral Hotel.
The landmark venue, owned by Balmoral Inns, will remain open while attempts are made to find a new buyer.
Stuart Irwin from KPMG, who has been appointed joint administrator with John Hansen, said they wanted to sell the venue as a going concern.
“It is our intention to continue trading and keep the hotel open for business as usual including weddings and other bookings.
“The joint administrators will seek to find a new owner, however in the meantime it is our intention to keep the business open.”
He said they were focused on maintaining jobs at the hotel.
“It is early in the administration process but our intention at present is to keep the workforce intact. We will keep all matters under review in the coming days and weeks.”
KPMG say they are now working with management to “ensure continuity” with current bookings and reservations. He encouraged people to continue to use the hotel.
“Given the great location and our stated intentions we hope that people will continue to book and our immediate objective is to secure operations, honour bookings and work with the existing staff. We will look at selling the business in due course.”
West Belfast MP Paul Maskey said he hoped that “the best outcome will be worked out for all involved.”
“I’m obviously sorry to see the current situation get to this stage. I know the Balmoral Hotel team have worked very hard to build the business up to a first class hotel, bar and restaurant. As far as I’m aware the hotel employs 100 people and it is my hope that the best possible outcome will be worked out for all involved.”
