The Merchant Hotel

Only second stay at the Merchant, but as special as the first. Wonderful ambience. Stayed in the Victorian side, bed and bathroom so luxurious. Cocktail bar so cosy and intimate, Bert's has a lively atmosphere and breakfast next morning in the Great Room was executed perfectly with such attention to detail. All round a very relaxing night in the heart of Belfast.

Have been here few times. It has always been fantastic. So much so that we buy each other vouchers for Christmas/Birthdays etc. Big shout out to Ryan on reception (our new best friend lol) for navigating his way through our numerous vouchers. This is just a fabulous experience. Rooms are amazing. Staff are fantastic and you won’t get a better breakfast anywhere. We cannot wait to go back.

Great location near pubs and restaurants. A short distance from sites to visit and nice walk to Titanic Experience. I booked a Deluxe Art Dec Room, and this was amazing. Perfect sleep aside from the music you could hear until 11pm but this didn't bother me as I put my ear pods and still fell asleep. The restaurant and the bar on site are a must try! Food and cocktails was so nice from breakfast to dinner. You can't go wrong! One last thing... went to see Sonny Fodera at the Custom House Square, so this was a perfect hub to be able to enjoy the show at a walking distance.

We ate here on the last bank holiday in August. The turbot was absolutely sublime. Easily the nicest fish dish I’d ever had. Presentation and flavour was exquisite. We do come here regularly and Horia, amongst other staff, always look after us very well.

I had booked the Merchant's 'Suite Life' package and afternoon tea as a surprise for my partner for his 40th birthday. I have stayed in the Merchant several times and been to the Afternoon tea, and I have always been really happy with the customer service and experience. We arrived slightly early for the afternoon tea and we were told to sit and someone would come get us. The staff then started to seat other guests, and guests that came in after us even though we had arrived before these guests. We then had to get up and join the queue to be seated. It then took us half an hour from being seated to get a drink and then get our afternoon tea (this was after I had to get up and ask for service). By the time we had our afternoon tea other guests had finished theirs and were in the process of leaving. We then decided to go to the cocktail bar and after a short wait, we were given a table. The menu has a 'browsing drink' that is offered when you are making your drink choice, however we were not offered this, despite other guests around us being given this drink. At this point my partner and I started asking each other why we were being treated so differently, but we decided not to order another drink and to just head on up to our suite. I had also told the hotel on the booking that this was for my partner's 40th and there were no balloons or small gestures to acknowledge the special occasion. Overall, it appears that standards have massively slipped, and we left feeling totally underwhelmed and I am disappointed that this is where I booked for such a special occasion

I booked festive afternoon tea and have never had a more disappointing experience from start to finish. Upon entering we waited almost ten minutes before anyone approached us. When eventually greeted, the exact words used were, “What are you here for? It doesn’t start to 12. Go and sit”. We had to sit at a table which had not been cleared from previous occupants. There was no reservation name or anything taken and no one came near us to say our table was ready. We waited due to a large influx of people arriving and they were greeted in a lovely manner (by a different member of staff) and seated straight away. We decided to take the time to address we weren’t happy by the level of service we had received and were told by what I assume was the manager that he would ensure our experience was first class from here on in. Unfortunately during this time we were served by the original staff member Malak. Our tea was literally dumped into our cups. On each occasion he was very rude and there was little to no interaction, not what one expects in any establishment let alone a five star hotel. Once our food arrived, we had no approach from any member of staff for well over an hour to check if everything was ok or if we needed anything else. Another cup of tea would have been greatly appreciated. We did end up expressing our disappointment with Evelina who I will say bent over backwards for us and was lovely and expressed major apologies for how we were treated. She showed her experience and excelled and is a credit to your establishment. The reason I am expressing this review is that I spent the evening with friends who had attended festive afternoon tea the day before us and their experience was the complete opposite to ours. They were treated to unlimited tea, approached continuously and staff were very attentive. We stayed in the Fitzwilliam hotel for a long weekend, we dined in The Ivy the night before and festive afternoon tea at The Merchant was to be the pinnacle of our break. After our experience it is safe to say we will not be back.