3 of a kind

Northern hotels

SLIEVE DONARD RESORT AND SPA, CO DOWN

Downs Road, Newcastle, Co Down, tel: 048-4372 1066, hastingshotels.com

This grand Victorian hotel stands watch over the traditional seaside town of Newcastle with its long beach, scores of shops selling seaside souvenirs, and golf courses. The Slieve Donard hotel has been with the town through its various guises – from Victorian and Edwardian resort, through its candyfloss and amusement arcade years to current days when cappuccinos are to be had in the moving-with-the times town. The hotel, poised on the opposite side of town to the North’s highest peak (whose name it shares), has always been viewed as rather grand, but it is quite accessible. It is the place to go for a smart afternoon tea and cakes overlooking the sea at Dundrum Bay, and there are still open fires.

Rooms: there are 178 bedrooms, including six suites, many with views of gardens, coast or mountains. Doubles from £110 (€136.50). Watch out for frequent special offers, such as three nights half board and use of the spa for £200 (€248) per person.

NEWFORGE HOUSE, CO ARMAGH

58 Newforge Road, Magheralin, Craigavon, Co Armagh, tel: 048-9261 1255, newforgehouse.com

This small hotel is in a renovated Georgian house that has been in the same family for six generations. Newforge House, built in 1785, is in a country setting in the village of Magheralin, near Lough Neagh and a half-hour drive from Belfast. The current owners, John and Louise Mathers, oversaw two years of renovations before opening it to guests in 2005. Visitors get a traditional country house experience in a comfortable home full of period features such as fireplaces, shutters, lofty sash windows and decorative plasterwork. John is a trained chef and the three-course dinners use local produce, and he will whip up an Ulster Fry for breakfast (although there are plenty of alternatives).

Rooms: there are six bedrooms, each with its own look that works with the original features and antique furniture. Beds are king and super-king size. The Hanna room comes with a four-poster bed while the Waddell room has a canopy bed. The bathrooms are modern. There are lots of books and DVDs for guests to borrow. Doubles from £120 (€149).

THE MERCHANT HOTEL, BELFAST

16 Skipper Street, Belfast,tel: 048-9023 4888, themerchanthotel.com

In the trendy, cultural Cathedral Quarter of Belfast, this five-star hotel is in a former bank building – an elegant, neoclassical affair with all the tradition and solidity that such buildings have – they need to protect the money after all (although it takes more that thick stone to stop banks hemorrhaging cash, as we’ve seen).

The hotel embraces its Victorian heritage but has added an early 1900s vibe with Art Deco rooms, a live jazz club and Modernist furniture from Eileen Gray and Le Corbusier pieces in some Art Deco bedrooms and Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chairs in the private members’ club. Justin Bieber is just one of the celebrity guests who has stayed here.

The hotel, which has just won a Best UK Hotel award, was created by Bill Wolsey who began in the industry with a pub in the early 1970s and then expanded into clubs and restaurants. There’s a rooftop garden, pool and gym, and the restaurant was once the main banking hall. This has retained its grandeur, dressed in a gold and black colour scheme beneath a vaulted ceiling and huge chandelier.

Rooms: there are 62 bedrooms and suites including 36 doubles, 17 twin rooms, four with disabled access and five suites. The Deco Decadence rooms are in a new wing and Victorian Splendour in the old building. Art Deco rooms include Eileen Gray and Le Corbusier chairs, while the Victorian rooms have velvet throws, silk curtains, and antique and bespoke furnishing and art works. Bathrooms have marble walls and suites have walk-in showers and free-standing roll-top baths. Doubles from £160 (€198.50).