A late May visit to Belfast unusually saw me having my accommodation booked for me, and after my much disputed opinion over the Europa Hotel, the choice, made by Belfast University was Madisons, part of the Botanic Inn Group, a Belfast based company. As I always do when knowing where I am staying, it was a hop off to Google and Ciao to see if I could find out anything about it, Google 10, Ciao NIL – so of course the next step was to get the hotel listed ready for my return.

On its website (www.madisonshotel.com) it describes itself as a:

“Cafe bar, nightclub and a hotel. It’s about fun. It’s about having a great night out, a fabulous weekend away, or letting your hair down while away on business”

I cannot comment on the booking process as this was completed on my behalf, however, in contrast to my visits to Glasgow and Edinburgh, the taxi from City Airport cost me a mere £8. However, if you are travelling to Belfast International you would be looking at around £30, but with so many different airlines now flying into City such as British Airways, FlyBe and Air Wales, all at very reasonable fares, you really shouldn’t have a problem, although a word of warning, if you are flying on an airline that tends not to stick too cleverly to schedules, Belfast City is definitely NOT the place to be stuck for several hours.

But back to the topic in hand:

LOCATION
Situated at 59 – 63 Botanic Avenue, Belfast, close to the University, the hotel was a grand looking building located in what can only be called a vibrant student area, with an abundance of shops, bars and eateries and limited on-street parking.

CHECK-IN
Reception was minute, with sufficient area for about 5 people, a reception desk, stairs to the bar/restaurant and rooms, a coat stand and lift. Check in was swift, requiring me to complete a card with my home contact details, swipe my credit card and collect my room key. Payment is, as common to most hotels, credit card, cheque or cash; however, if you want to add things to your bill then you will require a credit card.

THE ROOM
In typical hotel style, big or small, the corridors were warm, as was the room, which had old fashioned style windows that were a swine to open and close, requiring a PhD in applied engineering.

Based at the front of the hotel, I had a cracking view of the main street, and it was nice to just sit and watch people going about their daily business. The room was a fair size, substantially larger than many of the big chains I have used with 2 single beds, plush red carpet, remote controlled colour TV, tea and coffee making facilities with very tasty shortbread, a telephone based on the bedside table, not ideal for checking your e-mails, a desk area, cupboards and en-suite, again fairly standard fare of bath with shower, toilet and sink.

BE WARNED
As I said in my title, Madison’s is a hotel with an identity crisis, having enjoyed my evening meal washed down by a few lagers and G&T’s, more about that in a moment, I returned to my room to finish my presentation for the following day and get an early night at the end of a very stressful few week thanks for to finishing my MBA thesis and the addition of our new puppy; it was also the start of a very hectic schedule that was going to see me covering all 4 countries of the UK in great detail. Watching Bad Girls, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM…………., BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, bloody Jazz music blaring out at me, a swift phone call to reception saw the concierge standing at my door, sorry madam, its Jazz night, finishing at 12.30a.m. and we don’t have any more spare rooms, I was in tears, I was tired, stressed, needed to work and sleep.

Two minutes later I received a phone-call from reception, apologising profusely and informing me they did indeed have a spare room at the rear of the hotel on the top floor and would I like to move, you bet I would. I hastily packed up my stuff and willingly gave them to the concierge to move for me, trouble was, when we got to the room, it looked lived in with a capital ‘L’, they hadn’t cleaned the room. Thankfully, only one of the beds had been slept in and I was too exhausted to care, the concierge however was mortified and rushed off to get me clean towels. The TV in this room had very poor reception, and the view was brick walls, but it was peaceful.

A mere two minutes after this, I had the receptionist on the phone advising me the room would be complementary, to be fair the customer service made up for the poor room allocation, but I did point out that I felt they should advise customers at point of booking or check-in of the noise problems if based at the front of the hotel.

Under normal circumstances I probably would have settled downstairs to read my book and enjoy the music, but I really needed some sleep.

There is also a nightclub in Madisons situated in the basement of the hotel, open Friday to Sunday, making for, I suspect, even noisier stays than my own on a Thursday night.

THE FOOD
There are high points and low points to most hotels, and the food here was definitely the high point, if a little pricey. The menu was a little fancy, whatever happened to good old steak and chips? but I enjoyed “Prime Loin of Beef cooked to taste and served with a Cracked Peppercorn & Brandy Sauce”, basically a good chunk of quality steak with sauce and fries, the beef was tender and tasty, the sauce not too spicy, the cost: £12.95.

The restaurant/bar, whilst servicing the hotel, is also open to the public from early until very late every day, and if staying, breakfast is included in your room rate.

Brekkie, served from 7am until 11am, was, served plated (I must admit I do prefer buffets), and as it was included in my room rate (which was complementary remember) I went for the even bigger breakfast – sausages bacon, egg, soda and potato bread, tomato and mushrooms all freshly cooked and washed down by orange juice, lots of tasty coffee and lots of toast. For, those not being bit eaters in the morning and veggies there was still plenty of choice ranging from the smaller version of my breakfast, to a veggie deluxe breakfast, kippers, continental, cereals, smoked salmon, filled croissants, bloody mary (yes including the vodka) and Bagels, so really, something for everyone.

PRICE
An executive room would set you back £87 during the week and £80 at weekends, the standard twin I enjoyed was £80 during the week, although I had a special rate of £50 B&B through the University (as I have already mentioned it later became free), bringing my total bill to £19, primarily for the food and a couple of telephone calls.

They do have family rooms for 2 adults, 2 children and their website used to claim internet access, probably until I stayed there. I tried connecting to no avail, and was advised that they do not have access there – now normally, I can just unplug the phone and connect the laptop, and eventually I managed to do this, but from experience of a wide range of hotels, I would suggest investing in an RJ11 connect as well as your standard PC to socket connection, as more and more hotels are locating sockets in their phones to enable you to connect. Phone prices were very reasonable compared to outlets on the mainland.

SUMMARY
Would I stay there again? It was a nice clean hotel with friendly staff, but probably not, far too noisy for me. Belfast is a developing vibrant city with lots of hotels to choose from. Some people groan when I tell them where I am going, but from my two brief visits, the buildings are amazing, the scenery on the edges of the city outstanding, and, with the exception of the walls of the police station, there was little evidence of the troubles we keep reading about on the news. The people were some of the friendliest I have had the pleasure to meet, and their customer service is outstanding.

Madisons, for its own part, should decide what business element it wishes to focus on, or aim it’s marketing at the right target audience, definitely a hotel with an identify crisis.

I have had it on good authority that it is a comparable if not superior place to visit over Dublin (I have done both, but Dublin for pleasure and Belfast for business), and when I get the opportunity, I will be returning to Belfast for a pleasure visit, with flights nowadays cheaper than a standard return to London, will Air Wales please hurry up and start flying there from Swansea.

For stays in Madisons visit:

Website: www.madisonshotel.com
E-Mail: info@madisonshotel.com
Telephone: 028 9050 9800