Titanic Hotel Belfast, The Chairman's Office

A birthday treat from my family as I’m a bit of a Titanic buff. The hotel did not disappoint and is stunningly restored and so beautiful. Our executive room was in the new extension and so peacefully quiet. We had a nice view out of the large floor to ceiling window and the room was well appointed. A classy shower room, super comfortable bed and tea/coffee, bottled water etc. And then there’s the staff who couldn’t do enough for us. Attentive, chatty and obviously take pride in their customer care. Loretta in particular was such a lovely young lady from Drawing Office 2 with its lively central bar. William, the Head Concierge who gave us an individual tour of the premises explaining so many historical facts, figures and otherwise unknowns….he topped off a fabulous time at this gorgeous building. This is more than a hotel, it’s a piece of architectural importance, human accomplishment and cultural history. I cannot recommend this hotel highly enough.

I treated a party of 4 for afternoon tea a few days before Christmas as a Christmas gift and was extremely disappointed with the whole experience. I regretted choosing the venue to take friends for a Christmas treat. One of the party had an allergy. We were not asked about allergies on arrival. We informed the waitress about the allergen, yet we were still given food containing it. We told the waitress about the error and she disagreed that the allergen was in the food and eventually reluctantly took one item of the order back to the kitchen after we asked her to examine it, as it was clearly contaminated. She then returned and apologised stating that the chef initially had told her that the allergen was not present in the food. She replaced the one contaminated item. None of the other foods items contaminated were offered to be replaced, so were left uneaten. The room we were dining in was poorly staffed. We had to try and get the waitresses attention for drinks etc each time, not what you would expect for afternoon tea, especially as coffee is served per cup. The room was cold, the chairs uncomfortable and the food was at best just average. Very worrying level of service around lack of concern regarding allergens. The two staff that served us seemed pleasant but sadly not trained and were clearly given too much to do. £156 not well spent. After complaining via email we were offered the chance to pay to return again in order to have a better experience! I will definitely not return and regretted not booking the merchant hotel for afternoon tea instead.