One of the top — and most welcome — trends in the Dublin hotels market at present is a pick-up in the pace of development activity.

According to new research from Cushman & Wakefield, the much needed — and long awaited — delivery of rooms has started to happen, albeit it slowly.

In the first half of this year, nearly 750 new bedrooms in 13 hotels were delivered to the Irish market, boosting hotel stock across the country by around 1.2%. Some 86% of the new rooms, around 650, are in Dublin.

More than 560 of them were delivered in just five hotels. Two of these are new builds: Iveagh Garden Hotel in Dublin 2, which has 145 rooms, and the Maldron Hotel Kevin Street, with 140 rooms. The three biggest extensions to complete in the first half of the year were Clayton Hotel Dublin Airport (135 rooms), Hilton Garden Inn, Dublin 1 (85), and The Premier Inn Hotel, Swords (58).

Most notably perhaps, the research points to a surge in the development pipeline, which increased from 600 rooms at the end of 2016 to 2,600 by mid 2018.

New builds account for 69% of those 2,600 pipeline rooms, while extensions make up 18% and hotel redevelopments the remaining 13%.

The largest new build to have started in the second quarter was a nine-storey, 155-room hotel being built on the site of the Andrews Lane Theatre.

Developments in the pipeline, meanwhile, include a 97-bed Premier Inn on South Great George's Street, which was recently granted planning permission, and a 120-bed Hard Rock Hotel to be built on the site of the now-closed Parliament Hotel on Lord Edward Street in Temple Bar.

This increased level of activity is expected to continue, according to Cushman & Wakefield. The research highlights planning pipeline figures compiled by CIS (Construction Information Services) indicating that plans have been submitted or approved for almost 3,000 rooms in 35 hotels so far this year.