Hotels: The Stillorgan Park Hotel in south Co Dublin has stepped up competition in the Dublin four-star hotel market by opening a range of new facilities aimed at the corporate sector.

More than €10 million has been spent on a new conference facility to cater for 288 people and 40 additional executive bedrooms have been added, including six suites to bring the total up to 165 bedrooms.

A new French-style courtyard has been created with high-tech facilities to make it adaptable for a range of uses, including corporate receptions and guest barbecues.

Three boardrooms have also been provided along with an attractive spa which the hotel says "is the ideal retreat for business people seeking a simple escape from a stressful life".

Whether or not it succeeds in doing so, the White Pebble Spa has excellent facilities, including seven treatment rooms where French Yon Ka products are used, a mud wrap room and a chill-out area.

Stillorgan Park is obviously hoping to corner a greater share of the corporate market at a time when an increasing number of companies are steering clear of city centre hotels because of the ever-worsening traffic congestion and the high cost of car-parking.

The forthcoming closure of two Jurys Doyle hotels in Ballsbridge is likely to be of benefit to suburban hotels, like Stillorgan Park, which have invested heavily in providing the best possible facilities for the business community.

The Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism John O'Donoghue, officially opened the new extension last week, and applauded the hotel for being able to offer "an increased premium service to its growing domestic and international tourist and business clientele".

Philip Gavin, the hotel's group managing director, said that with highly competitive corporate accommodation rates mixed with a superior level of service, the formula for a growing success story was firmly in place.

The Stillorgan Park was part of the Doyle Hotel Group until 1998 when it was bought by the Wexford-based Pettit Group. It then had 100 bedrooms and was noted mainly as a meeting point for many young people living in south Co Dublin.

The Pettit Group invested heavily in upgrading and enlarging the facilities and building a new conference and banqueting centre. The hotel was awarded a four-star classification within a year.