Bernice Harrisonvisits Malmaison in Belfast
THERE ARE 12 Malmaisons in this small hotel chain, and all feature regularly in interiors and style magazines, because they were the first to make high-design boutique hotels affordable.
We had planned a night away in Belfast in combination with a trip to Ikea, which seemed the ideal opportunity to see what Malmaison was really like. To be honest it was the price and the location that sold it to us. If you're heading off to Belfast to load up on cheap Swedish flat-pack, it doesn't make sense to go mad with the overnight accommodation.
This hotel was £75 (€79) a room - "the Damage", as the bill cutely calls it. It's an affordable rate that we snapped up on the Malmaison website.
The hotel is on Victoria Street, in the city centre. For couples who still have their dancing shoes on, and for whom pushing a trolley around a furniture superstore is in the far distant future, I have been reliably informed it's also around the corner from the Cathedral Quarter, home to Belfast's burgeoning nightlife.
Malmaisons are usually to be found in interesting buildings. The one in Glasgow is a former Episcopalian church; in Oxford it was a prison; Manchester's was a warehouse. Belfast's used to be the McCausland Hotel and is a fine red-brick Victorian corner building that originally stored grain.
It looks very smart from the outside. Inside I wouldn't have been surprised if Morticia Addams was doing a nixer on the front desk. The dramatic high-ceilinged reception area is Addams-family Gothic, with its gloom, aubergine-and-black colour scheme and heavy velvet drapes and upholstery. The intention is,
presumably, to scream cool design, but it felt oddly like entering a nightclub at teatime, which is never a great thing.
During check-in they do a curious thing. As well as debiting our credit card for the £75 there and then, they also debited an additional £50 (€53) - and seemed mystified when I mentioned how unusual that is.
According to the perfectly friendly receptionist - not a touch of Morticia about her - it's in case guests run up extra charges during their stay. If you don't, it's refunded when you check out.
It didn't feel right, as if they expect their guests to do a midnight flit after drinking the minibar dry.
There are 62 rooms; ours was at the back of the hotel on the top floor. It was a very small double, but chic and mercifully neutral after the theatrics of reception, with pale walls, black furniture and a red velvet throw and cushion.
The bed linen was crisp, the bed firm and the lighting good.
The small bathroom came with all sorts of goodies, including proper-sized bottles of gorgeous-smelling shampoo, conditioner and shower gel, as well as the other toiletry bits and pieces usually found in much more expensive hotels. A witty sign gives you permission to do what you were going to do anyway: take them home.
A bottle of wine with two glasses stood invitingingly on a table until we spotted the €12.95 (€13.75) price tag. Later we popped our heads into the attractive bar for a drink, but a giant TV screen was showing football, so we headed out to the magnificent, National Trust-operated Crown Bar and were lucky enough to find an empty snug.
The following morning we passed on breakfast - it's an extraordinary £11.95 (€12.50) for a continental breakfast, which is a lot to pay for coffee, fruit and pastries.
We asked if we could just have a coffee, and were told, yes, we could, but it would mean being served in the gloomy reception area instead of the (nearly empty) breakfast room, so we passed. Instead we went across the road to Caffè Nero for excellent espressos.
A set-down area outside the hotel door was full when we arrived, which was a nuisance, as Malmaison has no parking - a big negative in the rain or if you have luggage or mobility problems - so we parked
in the new Victoria Square shopping centre car park, about a five-minute walk away across a very busy Victoria Road.
Where34-38 Victoria Street Belfast, 048-90220200 www.malmaison-belfast.com.
WhatAffordable high-design boutique hotel.
Best rateOur internet rate was £75 (€79) for a room. Other rates and packages on the hotel's website.
Restaurants and barsBreakfast, lunch and dinner are served in the brasserie. Malmaison also has a large, atmospheric bar.
Rooms64 rooms.
FacilitiesInternet access; plasma television and DVD player (free DVDs available to borrow at reception). Small gym.
ParkingNone.