Europa Hotel, Belfast
Coordinates: 54°35′42″N 5°56′10″W / 54.595°N 5.936°W
The Europa Hotel is a four-star hotel in Great Victoria Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It has hosted presidents, prime ministers and celebrities.
It is known as the "most bombed hotel in Europe" and the "most bombed hotel in the world" after having suffered 36 bomb attacks during the Troubles.
As of late 2008, the hotel has 272 bedrooms following major refurbishment, including 92 executive suites. On the ground floor there are the lobby bar and the causerie restaurant, first floor are the Piano Bar lounge The hotel also has a conference and exhibition center, 16 flexible conference and banqueting suites, as well as a 12th-floor penthouse suite.
The hotel, designed by architects Sydney Kaye, Eric Firkin & Partners, opened in July 1971. It was built on the site of the former Great Northern Railway station and stands 51 metres high. During The Troubles, the hotel, where most journalists covering the Troubles stayed, was known as Europe’s most bombed hotel, earning the name "the Hardboard Hotel". The hotel was blown up by the Provisional IRA in 1993 and damaged so badly that it sold for only £4.4m.
The Europa Hotel became part of the Hastings Hotels group on 3 August 1993, whereupon it was announced that it would close for the first time in its 22-year history to allow for major refurbishment. Following an £8m investment, the hotel reopened in February 1994. Its first official event was the Flax Trust Ball, a gala evening for 500 local and international dignitaries. President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton stayed in the hotel in November 1995; the suite used by the Clintons was subsequently renamed the Clinton Suite. The presidential entourage booked 110 rooms at the hotel.
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