The Merchant Hotel

The Merchant Hotel Review

Upon opening in 2006, this was quickly heralded as Northern Ireland's—perhaps all of Ireland's—most spectacular and sumptuous hotel: once past the exuberantly Italianate facade, made of formidable Giffnock sandstone, built as the headquarters of Ulster Bank in the mid-19th century, and set with grand columns and crowned with a dramatic group of sculptures depicting Britannia, Justice, and Commerce, you are greeted with a marble riot of tall urns, fruit, foliage designs, and plump ebullient cherubs on show, climaxing in the Great Room restaurant (the former banking hall), so magnificent it puts most of England's stately halls to shame. Four years later, the Merchant added a sleek and breathtaking £16 million extension that borrows from the art-deco spirit of the 1920s and has been a huge success among the indulgent set. Upstairs, the ornate guest rooms come with antique furnishings, works of art, rich fabrics, and enormous plasma-screen TVs. New are 37 bedrooms with a lighter, brighter color scheme, spacious Carrara marble bathrooms, furniture from repro lines of Le Corbusier and Eileen Gray, and artworks by Belfast photographer Gavin Miller. There's an underground spa with five treatment rooms, a rooftop gym with hot tub, and—should you feel the need—a champagne nail bar. The signature caviar and champagne facial costs £150; if you have anything left to spend afterwards repair to the cool Bert's Jazz Bar which serves French-bistro style food in an informal setting.