Why Hoxton Hotel faces major protests over Izakaya action
Large crowds gathered outside The Hoxton Hotel in Dublin on Tuesday evening to protest its ongoing legal action against Yamamori Izakaya.
Yamamori Izakaya is a decades-old Japanese restaurant and nightclub sitting on George’s Street, and as the protest demonstrated, it is a regular night-out destination of countless happy customers.
However, the nightclub has found itself in the midst of legal trouble recently, following action taken by the neighbouring Hoxton Hotel.
Large crowds gathered outside The Hoxton Hotel in Dublin on Tuesday. Pic: Leah Farrell / © RollingNews.ie
The Hoxton, whose building is owned by Trinity Hospitality, initiated legal action against Yamamori due to the noise levels transferred between the buildings.
The hotel claimed that it has received ‘numerous’ noise complaints from guests and has had to close many rooms because of it.
Supporters of Yamamori were infuriated by the legal action, taking to Dame Court to join a protest organised by People Before Profit.
Music blared from speakers and chants echoed from the crowd. Pic: Leah Farrell / © RollingNews.ie
Music blared from speakers and chants echoed from the crowd outside the hotel, with protesters concerned about what the broader implications of the legal proceedings mean for Dublin nightlife.
Trinity Hospitality has repeatedly stated it is not trying to shut Yamamori down, though the action aims to ‘advance a testing and resolution process to reduce noise transfer into the hotel’.
It appears to be also open to contributing financially to long-term works within Yamamori to reduce the noise, with joint acoustic testing taking place over the weekend.
Supporters of Yamamori were infuriated by the legal action. Pic: Leah Farrell / © RollingNews.ie
Trinity Hospitality has stated that it hopes the works will allow both businesses to ‘continue to thrive’.
The Hoxton, which was formerly the Central Hotel, only opened in November after undergoing refurbishments.
It has said that it ‘wholeheartedly supports the cause of protecting cultural institutions’ in the city.
Trinity Hospitality has stated that it is not trying to shut Yamamori down. Pic: Leah Farrell / © RollingNews.ie
Meanwhile, Yamamori took to Instagram to share a lengthy statement in response to the proceedings.
It read: ‘It is extremely difficult to accept the claims made by the company that it is not seeking to curtail cultural or nightlife activity, and that it would like to see us thrive.
‘It is also hard to accept the company’s claim that it had no choice but to seek the injunction.’
The owners went on to say that when the Central Hotel was occupying the building, the space above the venue was used as a function room, instead of bedrooms.
Yamamori added: ‘The current owners chose to convert this area into bedrooms despite our concerns, which were known to them.’
