The Galgorm Collection is currently investing £30m to enhance resort and spa facilities at its flagship hotel in Northern Ireland in a bid to entice more visitors, including those from Scotland.
Forest walks, a wood-fired sauna, hot tubs and a rope bridge connecting the thermal village on both sides of the river are included along with a river pathway from Galgorm Resort to Galgorm Golf Club.
It also links the historic village of Gracehill, which has just become Northern Ireland’s second Unesco world heritage site, and the latest cash injection is in addition to the £70m already invested in the last 14 years.
Galgorm has what the group call a laid-back sister, The Rabbit Hotel & Retreat. A total of £12m has been spent since the Galgorm Collection bought the property in 2019.
An additional 17 rooms will be added by December 2024 which will take the bedroom stock to 50 and there are plans for a 46-guestrooms extension, enhanced spa and leisure facilities.
The group also boast what they call the timeless luxury of The Old Inn. There is a new private dining space called C S Lewis, after the Belfast-born writer who visited on his honeymoon, a fitness suite with wellbeing and fitness membership.
They group are introducing a day spa plus four treatments rooms offering exclusive and bespoke ELEMIS treatments, and the group continues to update guest rooms.
Galgorm Collection is a major employer in the region, with a workforce of around 1,000 staff, and they have become the first hospitality group in Ireland to achieve official Great Place to Work certification.
The aim is to ensure that upcoming generations see hospitality as a viable career through initiatives like the NI Hospitality School, a charity with two other hotel groups and industry bodies.
A spokesman said: “The NI Hospitality School develops and delivers courses at entry level in partnership with the local collages and this is a partnership with Business in the Community that will see primary school age children learn about the industry as well as promoting the industry as a career of choice for the future.
“We have sustainability at the heart of our business, committing to be carbon neutral by 2030, and to become the first premier hospitality group on the island of Ireland to fully embrace green practices. This is through solar in the three hotel sites, hydro, planting 10,000 trees on the estate and water taps in rooms.”
PICTURE: A suite in the Galgorm. Supplied by Galgorm Collection
PICTURE: A suite at the Galgorm Collection
PICTURE: Cottages on the Galgorm Collection
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