THE FIRST HIGH-TECH Aloft hotel to be opened in Dublin, backed by billionaire media tycoon Denis O’Brien, will help tackle a hotel bedrooms deficiency in the city, the Circuit Licensing Court has been told.

Barrister Kerry-Jane Morgan said Blackpitts Hospitality Limited, which trades as Aloft Dublin City, planned to open the new 202-bedroom hotel in the Blackpitts area of Dublin’s Liberties, near St Patrick’s Cathedral.

Ms Morgan said the Aloft brand was very well established in the United States and the eight-storey high tech hotel would be ready to open in July 2018.

Counsel told Judge Karen Fergus that Blackpitts Hospitality Ltd was applying for a Declaratory Order, ensuring the hotel would obtain a full license if planning permission terms as lodged with the court were adhered to.

Mark Lynch, a director of the company, said Aloft was recognised internationally as “a fun and vibrant brand with hotels that have attractive and colourful spaces”.

Lynch today told Judge Fergus that the “loft-like” rooms will feature a system allowing guests to use their mobile phones to access their rooms.

Ms Morgan said the hotel, located at Mill Street, Blackpitts, will employ 50 people when it opens.

Judge Fergus said she was satisfied to grant Blackpitts Hospitality Limited the declaratory order.

Hotel giant Marriott International had announced last month that it was behind the new hotel, which will be opened through a franchise agreement with Blackpitts Hospitality Limited and will be operated by Pembroke Hospitality.

Pembroke Hospitality, a hotel management company, was co-founded by former chief executive of Jurys Doyle, Niall Geoghegan.

It was also reported two years ago that Denis O’Brien has committed “several million” to the €40 million planned enterprise.

Read: A new Dublin hotel backed by Denis O’Brien will be aimed at tech-savvy travellers