Ross Duncan is renovating the Lough Erne Hotel, Kesh and hopes to re-open the long established premises in the near future RMGFH04
THE NORTH of the county is set for a major boost with news that the Lough Erne Hotel in Kesh is to reopen in the coming months.
The 12-bedroom hotel, which was a popular meeting place in Kesh, shut back in April 2014 – and was bought by property developer David Mahon.
The property has been split in parts and sold on separately, with Ross Duncan, owner of the Sizzling Stone, on the village main street taking over the restaurant and bedrooms – with plans to develop a smaller function room too.
The remainder of the building – at the rear where the main hotel function room was – is hoped to be transformed into a car showroom and three retail units.
A planning application posted in last week’s Herald said that plans are also in place to erect set up a car wash and valeting operation.
Mr Duncan told the Fermanagh Herald that he hopes to move into the building with present Sizzling Stone staff over the summer period. At present his restaurant opens three days a week and employs around 20 staff.
The first phase of the development will see the opening of the restaurant side of the hotel, which could lead to the creation of between five and ten jobs.
Then, Mr Duncan plans to redevelop the bedrooms – leading to another five jobs.
“The plan is to get it back up and make it the hub of the town,” Mr Duncan explained, “Since it closed it’s has been a big loss to Kesh.
While he admitted that he’s somewhat in a race against time, he’d like to have the restaurant up-and-running by the summer. “That could be a bit ambitious – but we are aiming for that. It’ll be the restaurant area which will be the first phase, and then the second phase will be the bedrooms and then the third phase the function room at some stage.
Previously having worked in the construction sector, the past few years at the Sizzling Stone have been a steep learning curve for Mr Duncan- but he’s ready for the challenge.
“My background was construction but when that took a downturn I got into the restaurant business. We gave this a go and have been very pleased with the feedback we were getting.”
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