Note: all my recent vacation in Ireland Yelp reviews will have the same 1st paragraph preamble, for just the review itself skip to the 2nd paragraph.
On a whirlwind 2 week vacation to Ireland, the girlfriend & I tried to see & experience absolutely as much of this incredible land as we could. We did not accomplish every last activity we wished we could have on our rather ambitious itinerary. Nonetheless, we did discover a land of numerous stunning & magical wonders. We did see a land of unending natural beauty. We did learn of a land with a monumentally long history of trials, tragedies & triumphs. We did get to meet many kind, humorous, warm & generous people. Our vacation to Ireland was just 2 weeks, but that was time enough to know this is a land easy to love & a land to be sorely missed.
Hotel 4 of 5 on our trip to Ireland was the Premier Inn Belfast near city center. This Premier Inn is a nice, clean, modern & inexpensive hotel with a very friendly & conversational staff. There are a couple hassles to staying here, however, & there was 1 complete fail in service during our stay.
Checking in was great as we had a lively conversation with staff about our travels, the city of Belfast & a great many other things. We were greeted warmly from the front desk on most of our comings & goings.
Our room was a decent size. While being neatly & efficiently appointed, the room still retained a comfortable feeling. From our 7th floor window we had a good view of Belfast & I was lucky enough to catch a couple beautiful sunrises over the low hills to the East.
This Premier Inn on Alfred Street has no free parking or hotel car park. Paid parking is available nearby, but is pricey. Fortunately, we arrived on our 1st day late enough that it was after the paid street parking hours & we parked right in front of the hotel overnight for free. The next morning, we left the city for the day & again returned late enough to park on the street overnight for free. The day after that was Sunday & street parking is free all day. Lastly, the morning after that, we checked out & somehow managed to avoid paying for parking the 3 nights we stayed in Belfast.
Internet is available in the hotel either at a couple computers in the lobby or by Wi-Fi in the room. Either way, you're really going to have to pay for it. Like £1/ 20 minutes or £20/ day pay for it. I think this is patently ridiculous.
Finally, there was the single fail during our stay. Our 1st night in Belfast came after a long day driving & both the girlfriend & I were very tired. In addition to being very tired, it was late, we were hungry & we didn't know any places near the hotel to get dinner so we decided it would be easiest to eat at the hotel restaurant. I ordered a burger & fries. It took over 35 minutes for the kitchen to produce that burger & fries. Tired, hungry & waiting over 35 minutes for a burger & fries just ain't cool. We were comped a round of beers, so I left it at that.
Overall, the Premier Inn on Alfred Street in Belfast is a good hotel for the money. The kind & hospitable hotel staff was definitely a highlight. It's in a conveniently central location, but parking a car while staying here can be dicey or expensive. Although Premier Inn is certainly not the only hotel to charge a fee for internet use, I find this practice at hotels to be absurd. About as absurd as waiting nearly 40 minutes for a burger & fries. read more