MALMAISON BELFAST

After an awful experience in the bar, we had a delightful meal in the dining room, fabulously large starters, impeccable mains, salmon, beef brisket, and a smoked haddock fish cake served with poached egg with a truffle mash, and an unbelievably light summer pudding to follow.Would recommend going straight to the dining room, the maitre there is unparalled.

We've stayed in the Malmaison for just one night before in their largest suite and it was amazing - the best room I have ever stayed in. A gorgeous bathroom, fire, pool table - just the works. The hotel decor is wonderful and has a cosy, boutique feel. I couldn't recommend it enough.

Hadn't stayed here in around 4 years but was booked in recently during my weekly trip to Belfast. The hotel is pretty much the same as i remember...quite dark, kind off moody but with welcoming staff and nice large rooms. The usual in room amenities are of a high standard and a huge selection of in room snacks on offer. my only gripe and i could be wrong but i couldn't find any air conditioning in my room...perhaps it didn't have it. Would use again but only at the right price as Belfast now has some real premium hotels in this price bracket.

We stayed at the Malmaison in Belfast for three nights. As we were dropped off at the front door you can't help but notice the grace and Gothic charm of the exterior of the . My family stayed at the Malmaison in Belfast for three nights. It was an adult vacation with no small children. This is a British based hotel chain with no locations in the US and therefore we had no previous experience with them for accommodations. It was perfect!....well, almost. As our cab pulled up to the front of the building, you could immediately sense the old European charm of this hotel. With the feel of being in a lovely Parisian neighborhood or on one of Barcelona’s old streets, the Gothic style invited you in with a welcome. Beautiful! Upon entering the lobby, the decor and ambiance made for a contemporary, pop-culture yet "girlish" feel to the hotel. Based on their website and marketing I would say 20-40-year-old women were their target demographic. They succeeded in getting my attention when I was booking hotels for this portion of our trip so, … Go Marketing Team!!! Check-in was quite smooth and the front desk staff very helpful with dinner recommendations. They communicated well with each other and you really got a sense of a team atmosphere from each staff member we spoke to. We were shown the elevator and I must say, getting to your room has a very sexy feel. Lots of dark hallways and doors to take advantage of a smooch or two. Here is where the Malmaison lost a point with me: The Room. Our room was well appointed with beautiful furniture and a very comfortable bed. But it lacked attention to certain details. (Especially for the woman traveler that they seem to target.) The furniture showed some of the wear and tear it had experienced via exposed chips and dents. The lighting in the room was negligent for getting dressed and putting on makeup. We also couldn’t see very well in the cabinet when making tea in the morning. I used the light on my mobile. The worst part however was the temperature. It was a Sauna!! There was no circulation of air as we had an interior room that overlooked a car park. The AC controls were nowhere to be found and there were no fans in the room. It was stuffy at night, not totally unbearable, but in hindsight we should have called to see if there was anything to be done. Where the room did succeed was a lovely bathtub and the most delicious scented shower gel I have ever had in a hotel. The shampoo was actually quite good too. I loved the smell so much I tried to order some…but doesn’t seem to be possible. Bummer! Also, the reading lights near the bed were perfect!! Yes, I use these things! Back down in the lobby is the hotel bar. Again, very contemporary in design with lots of little spaces to have some private conversations. The bartenders are talented and will keep you well “hydrated”. Do have a cocktail. We did not eat at the hotel restaurant but I can say that it looked nice and smelled wonderful in the mornings. I did love this hotel. It was a great stay and I would go back again. But I would ask for a fan!

In the past decade, I've stayed at this hotel quite a few times when visiting Belfast on business so I thought it would be a real treat for our friends to finish off our holiday with a few nights in Belfast staying at Malmaison. I was wrong. This hotel isn't the jewel it used to be. When we arrived, there was only one person on reception and no porter to help with luggage. As we checked in (we'd booked three rooms), several other groups of guests arrived and had to wait their turn to check in. While we were checking in, we were told the ONE of our rooms had been upgraded for no reason - but more about the rooms in a bit. First we had to shuttle our luggage up to the rooms, with one person having to stay in the lobby to keep an eye on the rest and our car that was parked in the loading/unloading bay in front of the hotel. There is no guest parking so we had to get checked in, get the bags to our rooms and then sort out our car quickly to avoid getting a parking ticket. When we got to the rooms, they were all really hot. There is no air conditioning and even with windows open, and the little fans switched on, the rooms never seemed to cool down as the afternoon wore on. In one room, we managed to secure a small aircon unit from Housekeeping which helped - a little. In the [upgraded] room, we were able to keep the window open for the first night but in the third room, we had to close the window because the traffic noise was too much. We changed that room for the second night to a room facing the rear of the hotel. This was a little better but not much. On the first night we opted to dine in the restaurant. The music was too loud and we had to ask twice for it to be turned down. Our food took over an hour to arrive and when it did, it was definitely not worth the wait. We sent back one meal (Monkfish Curry) because there just wasn't enough of it to justify the price tag. Must say though that the waiter was lovely and it wasn't his fault the kitchen wasn't up to the job of cooking and serving up food in timely fashion to a half-empty restaurant! After dinner, we thought we'd try the bar but it felt like it needed a good clean so we left after one drink and went to our rooms for an overnight sauna! What's most disappointing about this stay is that Malmaison Belfast used to be a brilliant hotel but now it feels like it has slipped way down the list. In a city where there are so many hotels to choose from, this one feels like it's time has passed. Not enough staff on reception, unclean ladies' toilets, worn carpet on the stairs, no parking, no air conditioning in rooms, poor food in the restaurant ... the list got longer. On the positive side, despite all the problems, the staff were brilliant. The lone person on reception coped admirably, the waiter did his best in the restaurant and the housekeeping team did a good job cleaning rooms. Sadly, there are too many better options available in Belfast so we won't be returning to Malmaison in the future