Refurbishment costs at the Shelbourne Hotel have climbed to some €90 million, exceeding the original budget for the restoration and furnishing of one of Dublin's most venerable resting places by €50 million

Twice delayed, the reopening of the five-star hotel on St Stephen's Green is now set for the start of February. The hotel, among the most prestigious in Dublin, will have missed the Christmas season and the Ryder Cup when its doors open after a mammoth two-year revamp.

While the Shelbourne had no comment last evening on the refurbishment costs, the radical increase in expenditure is understood to result from unanticipated construction problems and the upgrading of some internal features.

As part of the project, the lift in the entrance hall was removed and the original staircase restored.

The addition of €90 million in refurbishment costs with acquisition costs in the region of €140 million brings the total expenditure of the consortium that bought the hotel from Royal Bank of Scotland in 2004 to some €230 million.

The dominant figures in the consortium are developers Bernard McNamara and Gerry O'Reilly, property surveyor David Courtney, and hotelier John Sweeney. Mr McNamara's construction company has carried out most of the work on the site.

The hotel will be operated under a lease arrangement by the Marriott group, which has been conducting interviews in Dublin this week for staff.

The new Shelbourne will have 265 bedrooms, a restaurant and two bars, the Horseshoe and No 27. It will also contain the Lord Mayor's Lounge, 11 conference rooms and a ballroom.

There will be 19 suites, 11 of which will be named after famous guests associated with the hotel's past.