Accommodation options in Cork are about to increase in a big way.

As many as seven new hotels, including Ireland’s first ‘floatel’, will open in Cork city in the coming years, according to a new study by Savills Ireland. The study revealed that hoteliers and developers are considering projects with 1,355 new hotel bedrooms for delivery in Cork City, including seven new builds and four extensions to existing hotels that are already at various stages of planning. If even half of those are seen through to completion, it would represent an almost 30% increase on the current Cork hotel stock, which stands at 2,297 bedrooms. Five hotels have received a grant of planning permission for the addition of 360 bedrooms, including the 165-bed Maldron Hotel on Beasley Street/South Mall, which is due to be completed in 2018, and The Kingsley Hotel at Victoria Cross, which has received approval for 63 additional bedrooms. Amongst the hotels that have applied for planning permission, meanwhile, are M (The Metropole) on Harley’s Street and Horgan's Quay (HQ), on Railway Street on the Lower Glanmire Road. Ireland’s first floating hotel has also been given the go-ahead, a 96-bed ‘floatel’ My Story MV that would be situated at Penrose Quay, while a hostel at Parnell Place and a four-star hotel at the site of the former Government buildings on Sullivan's Quay are in the pre-planning stages. Tom Barrett, Director, Hotels & Leisure at Savills Ireland, said of the forthcoming additions to the Cork hotel market: “The Cork hotel market has strengthened in recent years. There is now significant demand for additional bedrooms in the city and Savills expect that a number of the planned schemes will proceed. “Current office development plans are very positive for the hotel sector, but certainty the Cork Events Centre proceeding is necessary for the city to exploit its true potential.”