Clare Droney | Staff Writer
Trinity College authorities recently met with those of the Trinity Capital Hotel, Pearse Street to discuss its proposed rebranding to ‘The Trinity Hotel,’ The University Times has learned. College confirmed that a meeting took place with the Trinity Capital Hotel regarding the renaming of the 4-star hotel, stating: “Trinity Capital Hotel consulted with the College in relation to their rebranding process where a number of suggestions were made, one of which was the Trinity Hotel.”
The move to rebrand comes just months after the sale of the Trinity Capital Hotel, widely reported in the national media to have been bought by a U.S. billionaire for approximately €35 million. Notably, the hotel was offered for sale “unbranded,” meaning that the new owner can “decide whether to trade under its existing strong name or re-launch the hotel with a top international brand,” according to CBRE Ireland, who handled the sale.
CBRE Hotels Ireland was keen to emphasise Trinity Capital Hotel’s “high profile position opposite Trinity College” in the process of the sale last year. The hotel’s website also emphasises this connection, stating that the hotel “is situated beside the iconic Trinity College Dublin.” The proposed rebranding of the hotel to ‘The Trinity Hotel’ was possibly intended to suggest a closer identification with the nearby Trinity College.
During the recent consultation process between the hotel and Trinity College, several names were put forward for the rebranded hotel. However, following intervention by the college concerning the proposed name ‘The Trinity Hotel’, the finalised name for the rebrand is now confirmed to be the ‘Trinity City Hotel.’ Earlier this week a spokesperson for Trinity told The University Times that “following discussions with the College, Trinity Capital Hotel subsequently decided to rename the hotel the Trinity City Hotel to which the College has no objection.”
The name ‘Trinity’ is a registered trademark and its use for commercial purposes is subject to approval by the College Secretary. Trinity College’s Licensing Programme specifies that “approval from the Secretary’s Office must be obtained for use of any of its trademarks and word-marks.” One of the objectives of the Licensing Programme is to “protect and enhance the ‘brand’ of Trinity College Dublin”.
In recent months, there has been a keener focus by College authorities on the Trinity name and brand and on developing a clearer and more cohesive College identity for Irish and international audiences. The renaming of the hotel is significant in the context of Trinity College’s new ‘identity initiative’ and the Strategic Plan 2014-19, to be launched this September, which highlights “the importance of a clear and distinctive brand” for the College and the importance of “a coherent identity” for an “external audience.”
The University Times Editor, Leanna Byrne reported on the Trinity brand and the College’s ‘identity initiative’ in this newspaper late last year. During that interview, Provost Patrick Prendergast highlighted the central importance of the name ‘Trinity’ in any possible future rebranding of the college. Director of Marketing and Communications, Bernard Mallee said that the name ‘Trinity’ “would remain, but a particular variation of it would come from the consultation process.”
The issue of the Trinity name and brand recently came to the forefront in the controversy surrounding the ‘Trinity College Dublin War Memorial Project’, in which Provost Patrick Prendergast demanded that the names Trinity, TCD, Trinity College and Trinity College Dublin be removed from the campaign. However, last November the Provost gave the campaigners permission to use the names ‘TCD’ and ‘Trinity College Dublin’ for promotional purposes.
Trinity Capital Hotel had not responded to our request for comment on the rebranding at the time of print.
