Waterford's long derelict Lombard Street buildings being transformed with Tower Hotel expansion

Derelict buildings at Lombard Street are currently being rejuvenated as expansion works to the Tower Hotel progress.

Situated at a major entrance point to the city centre, the buildings have for a long time been an eyesore for passersby.

Significant progress has been made of late, with the Tower Hotel expanding their services into the vacant properties, providing new amenities to the existing hotel, including an expanded ballroom space and 15 new suites.

Neville Hotels operate the Tower Hotel in Waterford, alongside their properties in Dún Laoghaire, Wexford, Kilkenny and Wicklow.

Director at Neville Hotels Therese Kelly, spoke to the Waterford News & Star this week to provide updates on the works to the Tower Hotel and Lombard Street.

“The ballroom, which is being extended and expanded at the minute, is due to be finished for the May bank holiday,” she said.

“The ballroom will be expanded and fully redecorated along with the lounge area just outside of it for all our weddings, functions, conferences etc.

“Along Lombard Street we’ll have 15 new suites that will be coming on stream. We don’t have an exact date on those yet, but it will be summer 2025 before they are finished. This will brighten up Lombard Street, which it has been in need of.

“I see those suites being quite popular with families. They will be self-catering, self-contained units, but with the facilities of the hotel on hand as well. We feel that the suites will also be popular with corporates who might like longer term stays rather than being in the hotel room.” 

Ms. Kelly said that the expansion speaks to the growing popularity of the hotel and shows that Waterford City is an in-demand stop for tourists and the business community.

“The ballroom is something that we always felt needed to be expanded because of the large conference business that comes into Waterford. With the expansion hopefully it will attract more conferences.

“With the new suites, the Greenway has helped tourism in Waterford a lot and tourism in the city is being promoted a lot more to families.

“It is the popularity of the hotel that is growing, helped by Waterford tourism. They were the main drivers of the expansion."

The construction works are ongoing at the site. Rose Lane, to the back of the hotel, is currently closed to traffic from the Lombard Street entrance with a diversion in place.

Ms Kelly says that it remains business as usual at the hotel despite the ongoing development.

“The only exception is we don’t have our large ballroom for meetings while it is being expanded, but we do have multiple other meeting rooms so we still do offer meeting rooms for smaller numbers.

“The bar, the restaurant, the health club are all still open and fully functioning so still very much an open and operating hotel," she said.