13 Belfast Hotels, from the Shipyard Drawing Offices to a 1625 Castle
The hotel the Troubles bombed more than any other in Europe, the Ulster Bank head office of 1860, the Harland & Wolff rooms where Titanic was drawn, and the inn where C.S. Lewis spent his honeymoon.
Belfast’s hotels carry the city’s shipbuilding, its linen trade and the Troubles. This list has the Europa, opened in 1971 and bombed again and again in the years that followed, the Merchant in the 1860 Ulster Bank head office, the Titanic Hotel in the Harland & Wolff drawing offices, and the Old Inn at Crawfordsburn, where C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman honeymooned in 1958.
The list is grouped by character, not ranked. Each hotel’s name links to its own site, so you see the current rate and book direct.
Grand landmarks
Europa Hotel · City centre / Great Victoria Street
The Europa opened in 1971 on Great Victoria Street and was bombed repeatedly during the Troubles; it is often called the most bombed hotel in Europe. Bill Clinton stayed here in 1995 on the first visit by a sitting US president to Northern Ireland.
Grand Central Hotel · Linen Quarter / Bedford Street
Hastings Hotels opened the Grand Central in June 2018 in the converted Windsor House tower, the tallest hotel in Northern Ireland. The name revives the Victorian Grand Central Hotel on Royal Avenue, which the British Army used as a base during the Troubles. The twenty-third-floor Observatory bar is billed as the highest cocktail bar in Ireland.
Banks, warehouses and merchant houses
The Merchant Hotel · Cathedral Quarter
The Merchant occupies the former Ulster Bank head office on Waring Street, completed in 1860, and the old banking hall is now the Great Room restaurant. Its founder, Bill Wolsey, has said he gambled on peace when he opened it in 2006 as Belfast’s first five-star hotel.
The Bedford Hotel · Linen Quarter / Donegall Square South
The Bedford opened in April 2026 in the restored 1904 Scottish Mutual Building on Donegall Square South. An earlier conversion, the George Best Hotel, stalled when the developer Signature Living went into administration; Martin Property Group restored the building, and Focus Hotels runs it.
Malmaison Belfast · City centre / Victoria Street
The Malmaison was built in the late 1860s as seed warehouses for Lyle & McCausland, with carved figures on the facade representing the continents. The warehouses first opened as the McCausland Hotel before Malmaison took over.
DoubleTree by Hilton Belfast City Ten Square · Linen Quarter / Donegall Square South
The DoubleTree occupies Yorkshire House, a Victorian linen warehouse behind City Hall, with carved portrait heads on the facade. It ran for years as the independent Ten Square before taking Hilton’s DoubleTree name.
The Harrison Chambers of Distinction · Malone / Queen’s Quarter
The Harrison is a Victorian merchant’s house in south Belfast. Its owner, Melanie Harrison, filled it with antiques and curios, and each room, or chamber, is themed on a historical figure, by the hotel’s account.
The shipyard and the movies
Titanic Hotel Belfast · Titanic Quarter
The Titanic Hotel occupies the former headquarters and drawing offices of the Harland & Wolff shipyard, where Titanic and Olympic were designed. The listed building stood derelict for years before it opened as a hotel in 2017, and the drawing offices now host events.
Bullitt Hotel · City centre / Church Lane
Beannchor, the group that created the Merchant, opened the Bullitt in 2015 on Church Lane. It takes its name from the 1968 Steve McQueen film.
Palaces, castles and old inns outside the city
Culloden Estate and Spa · Holywood / Cultra (outside)
The Culloden was built in 1876 as the official palace of the Bishops of Down, on the hillside at Cultra above Belfast Lough. Hastings Hotels marked its 150th year with a refurbishment.
The Old Inn · Crawfordsburn (outside)
The Old Inn at Crawfordsburn dates its building to 1614 and bills itself as one of Ireland’s oldest inns. C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman honeymooned here in 1958.
Ballygally Castle Hotel · Ballygally, Antrim coast (outside)
Ballygally Castle was built in 1625 by the Scottish settler James Shaw on the Antrim coast. A turret room is tied to the legend of Lady Isobel Shaw’s ghost, and Hastings Hotels refurbished the castle and its ghost room for its 400th year in 2025.
Dunadry Hotel and Gardens · Dunadry, near Belfast International Airport (outside)
The Dunadry opened as the Dunadry Inn in 1966 in converted mill buildings near what is now Belfast International Airport. The site is said to have been an ancient fort, the dun in Dunadry.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these hotels ranked?
No. The groups sort them by character, and the order within each group carries no meaning.
Why thirteen and not fifteen?
Thirteen Belfast hotels had a real story we could stand behind. The rest qualified on comfort or location alone, or their story could not be confirmed, so they were left off rather than added to round out the list.
Why are there no prices?
Rates change daily and a priced list goes stale in a month. Each hotel’s name links to its own site, so you see the current rate and book direct.
Should I stay in the city centre or out along Belfast Lough?
The city-centre hotels put you by City Hall, the Cathedral Quarter’s pubs and the trains. The Titanic Quarter is a fifteen-minute walk east along the river. The Culloden and the Old Inn are a twenty-minute drive out along Belfast Lough, quieter and greener.
Which hotel puts me closest to the day trips on this site?
Most day trips from Belfast run up the Antrim coast to the Giant’s Causeway, to the Dark Hedges, into the Mourne Mountains, or across to Derry. The city-centre hotels around Great Victoria Street sit closest to the coach pickups and the main bus and rail station.