Titanic Hotel Belfast

Some of the world’s most famous passenger liners, including its ill-fated namesake, were designed in this very building, which dates from the late 1880s. The former headquarters of shipbuilders Harland & Wolff have been sympathetically restored to house this luxurious hotel, across from the ship-shaped Titanic Belfast visitor centre in the city’s Titanic Quarter. But you don’t have to be a Titanorak to appreciate the old shipyard location. Nearby is the Pump House whisky distillery; the iconic H&W cranes Samson and Goliath, and HMS Caroline, all just a few minutes’ walk from the city centre. 

 Many of the original offices of the directors and senior staff, as well as Drawing Office One, have been repurposed as meeting rooms and event spaces, while retaining all of their charm in the form of antique furnishings, portraits and open-hearth fireplaces.

Rooms, featuring plush beds and chic bathrooms with Paul Costelloe Linen toiletries, are decorated in a stylish Art Deco nautical-meets-industrial style. You can choose to stay in the original building or a newer addition, and from Standard, Superior and Deluxe rooms. Or ‘push the boat’, so to speak, out in the more spacious Executive and Superior Suites, which benefit from classy touches such as complimentary fruit, San Pellegrino water, and an evening turndown.

On the ground floor, dusty blueprints and charts have been replaced with menus in Drawing Office Two, noted for its spectacular three-storey, barrel-vaulted ceiling and central island bar. We highly recommend the Punch Romaine (supposedly one of the last cocktails to be served onboard Titanic before the rush for the lifeboats), and the hotel’s signature Jack & Rose, a moreish combination of Jack Daniel’s, banana liqueur, lime and sugar, served with a shot of Rose Liqueur - guaranteed to float anyone’s boat. Sip while admiring a scale model of Titanic; original artworks by local artist Colin H Davidson and the room’s ornate plasterwork, crafted by the same skilled craftsmen who worked on the great liners.

The multi-award-winning Wolff Grill offers fine dining choices prepared using ingredients from local suppliers, along with views of the historic slipways. An excellent buffet breakfast completes the experience, with all the ingredients of the famous Ulster Fry which doubtless fuelled the riveters, welders, draughtsmen and designers who passed through this building and shipyard over the past century.