Unspecified
With cocktails nudging $2000, ties to banking might come in handy, Christina Pfeiffer writes.
HARRY McNerlin dashes past the gleaming silver hotel Bentley to help me with my bags. Dressed in a snazzy blue-striped shirt and baby blue silk tie, his uniform is the first indication that the boutique 26-room Merchant Hotel is a departure from the standard, more traditional historic hotel.
The hotel's lobby doubles as an art gallery with contemporary works by local artists adorning the walls. The gallery lobby is an appropriate theme in this Cathedral Quarter (named after St Anne's Cathedral), which is rapidly gaining a reputation as Belfast's artistic district, as old warehouses are transformed into stylish restaurants, bars and galleries.
This wasn't always the situation. Waring Street was once the heart of Belfast's commercial centre and the grand grade-A listed building that houses the Merchant was the former headquarters of the Ulster Bank.
In 1857 the directors of the Ulster Bank ran an architectural competition that offered a prize for the best design for the bank's headquarters. The design by Glasgow architect James Hamilton was chosen from 60 entries.
The site that was selected for the building has historical links to the author of Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift, who once courted the daughter of 17th century merchant William Waring. Waring set up a tannery in Belfast and was granted a lease in the street that was later named after him. It is believed that a nearby area known as Lilliput Farm may have provided Swift inspiration for his famous tale.
In keeping with popular Victorian architecture of the day, the exterior of the building has an Italianate style decorated with sculptures depicting commerce, justice and Britannia. Although the bank's headquarters would have been extravagant during its heyday, the building eventually became vacant and derelict. In April last year, after extensive refurbishments, it reopened as a boutique five-star hotel.
The number of hotel rooms in this city has been rapidly increasing over the past five years, but the Merchant fills a gap in the top end of Belfast's luxury market with five-star service in lavish surroundings.
Everything about the hotel is opulent yet stylish. I sink into a plush crimson velvet chair in the former main banking hall, which now houses the Great Room restaurant, while well-groomed waiters dressed in the hotel's smart blue-striped uniform serve breakfast from the a la carte menu.
Many of the original features of the main banking hall have been incorporated into the design of this room. The grand central dome and the majestic Corinthian columns are trimmed with gold while Ireland's largest chandelier - commissioned for the hotel from local company Tyrone Crystal - hangs from a magnificent glass cupola. Look closely at the friezes for plump gold cherubs that depict science, painting, scripture and music. This plush decor provides an awe-inspiring venue in which to nibble on roast halibut or duck a l'orange while well trained waiters fuss around you.
You can sip on what is said to be the world's most expensive cocktail (Guinness World Records is investigating this) beneath antique Baccarat chandeliers at the hotel's main watering hole, The Bar. The pricey cocktail is a mai tai, which costs $1875 for each tipple and includes a dash of vintage Wray & Nephew rum. My budget doesn't extend to such an extravagance, but the hotel tells us those lucky enough to sample this cocktail have confirmed that it is worth every penny.
The Connoisseurs Club meets once a month within the cherrywood-lined walls of the private residents and members bar to revel in new cocktail concoctions created by the hotel's potation manager. The hotel's more relaxed public bar, the Cloth Ear, has a casual menu of hearty homemade British favourites (such as Guinness pie) and a quirky decor that includes vintage clothing, wooden deer heads and old sheet music mounted on the walls.
Bedrooms are compact but elegant, with rich furnishings, heavy drapes and marble ensuite bathrooms. The mattresses, which are extremely thick and comfortable, deserve a special mention. Rooms are equipped with high-speed wireless internet access and flat-screen televisions.
The Cathedral Quarter is fascinating to stroll around. Across the street from the hotel at Cotton Court, there's an artistic mural depicting a map of the quarter. Further along the street, at the Benjamin Franklin Tavern in Sugarhouse Entry, the United Irishmen plotted to unite Catholics and Protestants. But as a beautifully renovated piece of history, it's no surprise that the Merchant itself has become one of the main attractions of the Cathedral Quarter.
The writer was a guest of the Merchant Hotel and Emirates.
TRIP NOTES
* The Merchant Hotel, 35-39 Waring Street, Belfast, phone +442890234888, email info@themerchanthotel.com, or see http://www.themerchanthotel.com. Rack ratesstart from about $530, which includesbreakfast and VAT.
* Emirates flies seven times a week from Sydney to Dubai and on to London, where you can connect to Belfast. For more information phone 1300 303 777 or visit Emirates online at www.emirates.com/au.
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