Green light for tripling in size of The Clarence Hotel

RTÉ News​

02-05-2025

Dublin City Council has given the new owners of the former U2 hotel the green light to almost triple the size of The Clarence Hotel in Temple Bar.
The Council planners have granted planning permission to Keywell DAC to increase the number of hotel rooms by 104 from 58 to 162 and add an extra floor to The Clarence and adjoining Dollard House.
A planning report lodged with the application states that the scheme is of "critical importance to the long-term viability of the hotel".
The scheme also includes a modern brasserie, coffee shop and bakery on the ground floor of Dollard House to replace the Giddy Dolphin pub.
The revamp includes Cleaver East to become a contemporary music pub; replace Roberta's Restaurant with a premium event facility; refurbish and relaunch the Workman's Cellar as a premium event driven late night music venue and reposition Anne's bar as a specialist bar.
The overhaul also includes the relaunch of the Octagon Bar - currently called The Curious Mister - and Stout Bar and retain the Tomahawk as it is.
A planning report lodged with the application by Stephen Little & Associates has stated that the refurbishment, conservation and extension aims "to recapture the iconic status of the Clarence Hotel and deliver high quality hotel accommodation and ancillary facilities to this area of Temple Bar".
Keywell DAC is part of Lifestyle Hospitality Capital (LHC) and last year, LHC purchased a majority stake in the Dean Hotel Group, that included the boutique Clarence Hotel, from the Press Up Group.
The deal came only months after Bono, The Edge and Paddy McKillen Snr sold the Clarence hotel in October 2023 to the Dean Hotel Group
Accounts earlier this year showed that the Dean Hotel Group paid out €18.07m in cash for the Clarence Hotel company in the deal.
The deal ended Bono and The Edge's connection with the four-star hotel after more than three decades of ownership.
However, the hotel continues to trade on its U2 association with the hotel website stating that the hotel is "also known as the 'U2 Hotel' or 'Bono Hotel' in Dublin".
In the sole objection against the scheme Temple Bar resident, Declan O'Brien told the council that "the cumulative impact of this development and similar tourism-focused projects in the area threatens to overwhelm the local infrastructure and further commercialize Temple Bar at the expense of its cultural and residential functions".
Mr O'Brien stated that "there has not been a significant residential development in the Temple Bar area in decades".
He said: "The further intensification of the area to mono-use has wider implications for the city. This proposal does not sufficiently align with the objectives of the Dublin City Development Plan.
He added: "It represents an over intensification of tourism and hospitality uses that will undermine the cultural, residential, and social balance in Temple Bar."
In a separate submission in support of the application, Banta Restaurants Ltd which operates Cleaver East, it said that the proposed works would represent an essential investment in the improvement and modernisation in this iconic Dublin hotel which will benefit not only the hotel but the wider local economic and tourist community.