On 14 July 1977, hotelier and developer Pascal Vincent Doyle announced that they were planning to open their sixth hotel, called the Berkeley Court Hotel, in Ballsbridge the following year after receiving £75,000 (equivalent to £355,844 in 2021) from the Fáilte Ireland towards the total £1.7 million (equivalent to £7,502,497 in 2021) construction cost.[1]
The 200 bedroom hotel was officially opened on 21 July 1978 by the then Minister for Tourism and Transport, Pádraig Faulkner. The architect was Martin Henihan.[2][3]
In 2005, the Berkeley Court was sold to developer Seán Dunne for €100 million who also purchased the adjacent Jurys Ballsbridge Hotel and the Towers for €260 million.[4][5]
Dunne had originally envisioned a €1.5 billion development on the site which included a 37-storey skyscraper but this was blocked by planning authorities in 2007.[6] By 2009, Ulster Bank, Rabobank and Kaupthing Bank had taken ownership of the properties and created a new legal entity, renting them back to Dunne's D4 Hotels business. The hotel was renamed to D4 Berkeley at this time.[7]
In September 2015, it was announced that the hotel, then known as the Clyde Court Hotel, was to be demolished for the construction of 200 apartments on the site.[8] The hotel officially closed on 1 January 2016.[9] Newry-based company John Tinnelly & Sons were appointed to demolish the former hotel.[10] Demolition began in late January 2016 and was completed by June of that year.[11][12]
Lansdowne Place, the new apartment complex built on the site of the former hotel, officially opened on 1 June 2017.[13]
