Check Out: Four hotels in Belfast
Titanic Hotel, Belfast: rooms with an art-deco, industrial edge
Grab your feather boa and welcome the new kid on the hospitality block, The Harrison. Also known as ‘The Chambers of Distinction’, The Harrison is the latest accommodation headliner in Belfast, wooing guests with a boho, bolthole atmosphere in the city’s vibey Queen’s Quarter.
Set in the former residence of an illustrious Belfast merchant family, this revamped property is sophisticated, yet cheeky, plush, yet casual, and is bursting at its Victorian seams with stories to tell.
Pulling up on leafy Malone Avenue, the Harrison’s imposing façade, dappled by mature lime trees, instantly feels special. The hallway leads me to a blue, velvet ‘Statue of David’ guarding the boudoir-style reception; a quick ping of the check-in bell and the owner, Melanie Harrison (occasionally joined by her gorgeous Frenchie, Blue), rounds the staircase to announce my welcome. Mel, who lives in the townhouse next door, bought this property and fulfilled a long-harboured dream to create a hotel: The Harrison opened last December. Mel’s labour-of-love renovation has seen the creation of 16 eclectic rooms, featuring fantastical homages to Northern Irish greats, from Seamus Heaney to CS Lewis.
I was staying in The Harrison’s Ruby Murray room, a divine, period suite overlooking Malone Avenue and Fisherwick Presbyterian Church. The room’s vast proportions, high ceilings, and sublime cornicing draw an immediate ‘wow’ upon entering and that’s without those fab furnishings. Sumptuous, four-poster bed, a standalone tub shrouded in faux palm foliage, and a comfy chaise longue settling in the bay window. There’s also a WC/wet-room featuring vegan-friendly products by locally owned company, Field Day. And, in case Ruby Murray isn’t on your Spotify list, she should be. The Northern Irish singer had five UK top-20 hits in a single week in 1955 and, as a tribute, the room features a record player complete with Ruby Murray’s best-of album. A quick crackle of the player and ‘Softly, Softly’ is soothing through the suite.
The Harrison wears its hotel hat with a deliberate tilt. Given the pandemic palaver, the opening of its restaurant and bar has been pushed back until the autumn, meaning dining on-site isn’t on the menu. In the meantime, guests can avail of, and mingle in, the hotel’s casual communal lounge (which feels a little like a pop-up Parisienne cáfe). Breakfast is delivered to guests’ rooms come morning. I’d a coeliac, vegetarian offering of yoghurt, fruit, OJ, and a carafe of fresh coffee. The perfect petit-déjeuner to start the day.
The Queen’s quarter makes a wonderful alternative base to the more touristed city centre. A few blocks from your doorstep, you’ll find Queen’s University, the botanical gardens, and the fantastic Ulster Museum (now home to the already iconic Protestant-Catholic blackboard from Derry Girls). You’ll find avenues stacked with excellent food options: For a picnic lunch, I enjoyed a gluten-free vegan bowl from funky Boa Bun, while The Barking Dog, next door to The Harrison, makes a top-notch dinner spot.
Offering guests a connection between its history, host, and city, The Harrison is a unique and massively charming property. Here, luxury, oodles of TLC, and swagger rank it alongside the likes of The Merchant as an alternative Belfast hotel hot spot. Do check it out — It’s not like the others, so it isn’t. Rooms from €155, or opt for a suite from €185.
A former linen house then general post office, Ten Square, on Donegall Square, is a downtown Belfast hotel, where history melds with contemporary chic. The hotel offers 130 rooms, from standard to executive, and I’ve enjoyed two stays in the former over the past year. Rooms are slick, plush, and comfortable, but can feel a little claustrophobic, with the chocolatey colour scheme — particularly if you don’t have city views. If you do, they’re impressive, given they are opposite the dome of Belfast City Hall. The hotel’s rooftop Loft Bar, where you can curl up on red, leather sofas and enjoy a cocktail with city views, is a big plus point. B&B from €125.
Hotel chains can be a little pooh-poohed by consumers, but with its excellent downtown location, don’t dismiss the Maldron Hotel Belfast City for your next stay north. My ninth-floor corner room was spacious and bright, with street views that made me feel like I was Tommy Gorman on a live link. Service was warm and merry, with Pride flags lining the lobby bar, while dining in the hotel restaurant offered decent grub, albeit with that chain-hotel feel that you could be in Minnesota.
For breakfast, I liked how fruit and yoghurt came in cardboard pots, rather than the plastic cups that are so pervasive in these pandemic times. A fine spot with B&B, from €100.
Belfast’s Titanic Quarter may have its critics, but this gleaming dockland district must rank as one of Europe’s most impressive urban-development stories. To anchor down in the area, Titanic Hotel Belfast, the legendary headquarters of Harland & Wolff, makes an iconic base.
The hotel sits next door to Titanic Belfast (with views to boot), while also being just a 20-minute stroll to the city centre, with rooms here having an Art Deco, industrial edge.
Peckish? Drawing Office Two bar makes a historic spot for guests or non-residents to enjoy a pretty decent chowder. B&B from €150.
- For more on Belfast, see visitbelfast.com and discovernorthernireland.com.
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