In early March 2022 I wanted a hotel in Belfast for a short visit to see my aunties, uncles and cousins for a last time, so they could see me when I was still looking healthy/normal (at the time I anticipated dying by September).  I checked out a range of hotels online, plumped on the Grand Central Hotel and booked a Deluxe Double Room through my travel club PK’s List, at £666 for 4 nights (room only).  The club’s owner, “PK” promised to get me an upgrade.  When we checked in we found we had been given a City Suite on the 22nd floor (I think the hotel is the tallest building in Belfast).  It was called the Clarence Suite.

The suite was a decent but not over-generous size, with a sofa in a lounge area slightly offset from the bedroom, which had a superking bed, table and comfortable chairs, plus a writing desk underneath a large wall-mounted TV.  I would describe it as ‘comfortable’ rather than ‘luxurious’.

The bathroom was spacious, with twin washbasins, a free standing bath tub and a 2mx1m shower cubicle.  Toiletries were by Espa, one of my favourite brands.  We thought this was a good bathroom.

One of the most impressive features of the suite was its view. But on the Wednesday we arrived that was spoiled by low cloud and rain.  We could only just make out the iconic yellow Harland and Wolf shipbuilding cranes.

After settling in, and before going out for dinner, we went up to the top (23rd) floor to their bar, lounge and function rooms level which they call the Observatory.  We had a couple of cocktails, which, at £15 each, were significantly more expensive than any others we came across in the city. That’s the price of a view!

We decided to take breakfast in the hotel on our first morning.  Guests on a B&B arrangement ate in a dining room on the 1st floor, but we Room Only types (and the general public) were told to eat in the ground floor restaurant.  To my surprise they didn’t have a “full Irish Breakfast” on the menu, so I ordered my go-to Eggs Benedict.  They didn’t have freshly squeezed orange juice (the Northern Irish seem to prefer the pasteurised ‘bits-free’ version, which I don’t care for, so I just had water and a small £4.50 cappuccino.  The eggs Benedict looked very good and came with lashings of cooked ham. But instead of an English muffin, they used Irish soda bread, which I like, but I found it too heavy for this dish. And the Hollandaise lacked vinegar, which is essential to cut though the richness of the egg.  4/10. It’s also worth noting that only one lady was on duty in the restaurant; covering ‘meeting and seating’, order taking, food delivery and table clearing, which is too much for one person!

After breakfast, in our suite, reception phoned to say that the GM wanted to offer us another upgrade, to a larger Mountain View Suite, which we gratefully accepted.  It transpired that PK had personally agreed this with the GM that very morning.  So we packed our bags for the hotel staff to move to the new suite, and went out for the day.

Upon our return we are given the key card to the Ewart Suite, which was on the 19th floor.  This was indeed a larger suite, with a bedroom completely separate to a large living room which had a sofa, soft chairs, TV and bookcase and even a small kitchen and dining table. There was a good sized fridge with lots of comp soft drinks, and a coffee machine.

The bathroom in the Ewart Suite wasn’t as big as in the Clarence suite. Only one washbasin, a smaller shower cubicle and a fitted rather than free-standing bath tub.

The views from the floor to ceiling windows were amazing, with much better weather for the rest of our stay. And although this was called a “Mountain view” suite, there were still great views over the city as well.

Grand Central Hotel Belfast is located in the city centre, just 100m or so from the City Hall, with ample bars, shops and restaurants close at hand.  Most of the staff we came across were wonderfully warm and friendly, from the front desk to the concierge team and even the uniform and top hat wearing doorman.  But we didn’t warm to the Housekeeping team: our first suite had partly used mineral water in the fridge and our second suite wasn’t cleaned on our first day. But worst of all it was Housekeeping who kicked us out of the suite at 11:30 on the Sunday morning!  We tried phoning reception but they were so busy with check-outs they couldn’t answer their phones. But they apologised profusely when we saw them face to face.  The hotel is clean and the beds are very comfortable.  7/10