Slieve Donard Hotel, Newcastle

Author's product rating:   

Advantages:	Fabulous location
Disadvantages:	? !  !  !  !  !  !  !  !  !  !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The Slieve Donard Hotel Resort & Spa ***** Newcastle, County Down

The Slieve Donard Hotel and Spa is an historic Northern Ireland Hotel situated in Newcastle, County Down, in the southeast of the province, in very dramatic and beautiful settings.

The hotel is situated on the coast of the Irish Sea on the shores of Newcastle Bay facing south to the Mountains of Mourne, with fabulous views across Royal County Down golf course to the north.

Belfast International Airport is approximately a 1-hour transfer from the hotel and Belfast City Airport is approximately 45-minutes transfer from the hotel, but timings depend entirely upon the day of the week and timing. Our transfer from the Slieve Donard back to Belfast City Airport was from circa 4pm on a Saturday afternoon and only took 45-minutes as traffic was not at it's peak.

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History
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Hastings Hotels own this hotel; along with 5 other Northern Irish hotels. The hotel group is owned by Doctor William Hastings who lives with his delightful wife Joy on Simmy Island, circa 25-minutes drive from the Slieve Donard hotel, with the town of St Patrick en route. Some of my industry colleagues and I were fortunate enough to be invited to their home for dinner before we went on to the hotel for drinks and overnight.

The Slieve Donard Hotel was purchased in 1972 together with 5 other Railway hotels, including the Midland in Belfast, the Great Northern in Rostrevor, the Northern Counties in Portrush and the City Hotel in Derry. At that time £1million was paid for all six hotels, which - believe me - by today's prices is an absolute snip! Still, £1 Million in 1972 would be an awful lot more money today!

I love traditional hotels with character that preserve some history and semblance of bygone days. Sadly, the Slieve Donard is the only one still operating as a hotel today, recently undergoing a major refurbishment to it's facade and is the jewel in Hastings Crown. They like to think of it as the "Gleneagles" of Northern Ireland, and I can sort of see why.

Old Railway hotels are always steeped in history and they often have large elaborate reception areas and lounges, which would have been full of the hustle and bustle you would come to expect at a railway station in the old days. One such hotel on the mainland in UK that I have always liked because of its history is the Midland Hotel in Manchester, but that is where the comparisons end.

The Slieve Donard Hotel was originally built by the Belfast and County Down Railway, as an 'end of line' luxury holiday destination. Construction started in 1896 and was completed and officially opened on 24th June 1898 at a cost of £44,000. It was one of the most majestic hotels of its time and it was almost self-sufficient with its own bakery, vegetable gardens, pigs, laundry and innovatively a power plant, which also provided electricity for the railway station. To meet this demand a spur was added to the railway line to allow the coal trucks to deliver directly to 'the back door', and each bedroom had a real coal fire (Source: Official Hastings Hotel website).

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Accommodation
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I must say from the outset that this was one of the most comfortable nights sleep I have ever had in a hotel. Generally, I don't have much trouble sleeping as it is one of my favourite pastimes, but the guest room accommodation was very cosy, with a roaring coal fire, and very comfortable beds. I am quite sure it was nothing to do with the 10 pints of Guinness before bedtime!

There are 5 different categories of bedroom within the hotel; Classic, Deluxe, Executive, Resort, and Suites. Each of the 176 bedrooms are tastefully decorated and I stayed in an Executive bedroom.

I think I stayed in an Executive room, which was decorated very tastefully with very neutral toned earthy colours, which provided a very homely and comfortable feel.

The bathroom was a double bathroom, with two basins at ends, a shower, toilet and a large white bath in the middle. The bath was excellent, and I was trying to decide whether or not I thought it was tacky or unique, but I opted for the latter, with mood lighting emanating from the base of the bath and providing different coloured lighting that could be changed by a remote control located in the bathroom. It was certainly different and had I had time to have bath, I think I would have quite enjoyed the purple or emerald green light emissions! Especially, if I had a lush sex bomb with me for the ultimate in bath relaxation!!
The bedrooms have tea/coffee making facilities, Internet access, min-bar, security safe, flat screen televisions, and all the usual mod cons you would expect in a modern 5-star hotel.

Guest rooms range in value from between £145 inclusive of Irish breakfast for a Classic room and £465 inclusive of Irish breakfast for a suite.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see all the types of bedroom in order to give more detail for the review, and that was despite a Wedding party being in the hotel, and what with my love of Irish women!! Hehehe … I should have tried harder to get a glimpse of some of the other bedrooms types!

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The Fodder & Drink
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The main hotel restaurant is named the "Oak Restaurant", which provides excellent Irish fayre and has beautiful views out towards the Mourne Mountains and Sea Front, which I found incredibly dramatic. For me, this truly is the kind of place that is best visited in the autumn or winter, due to the more rugged landscape surrounding the property.

The restaurant is a grand dining room with beautiful oak panelling and a fabulous central fireplace, which provides the room with added warmth, charm and character.

The restaurant is open from 12.30pm to 2.30pm and 7pm to 9.30pm every day.

The hotel bar is named "Chaplin's", located across the hall way from the "Oak Restaurant" and is not just popular with residents but also the Newcastle locals. The bar is named after, yes ... you've guessed it, the famous comedian who visited the hotel in 1921.

The hotel also has a 2nd restaurant, which is situated at the front gates of the hotel and is more of an informal venue for drinks, a pub-style lunch or dinner. The restaurant is called "The Percy French Inn" and is open daily from 12.30pm to 2.30pm and 5.30pm to 9.00pm.

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Meetings & Events
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The hotel is very popular for Weddings, particularly due to its charm and character, but also due to the extensive facilities it offers. There are a total of 16 meeting and function rooms, with a dedicated conference centre known as the "Centenary" providing 10 executive meeting rooms, and a Grand Ballroom catering for up to 1,000 guests.

There are standard conference packages and standards at the hotel, which ensure that corporate organisers experience a consistent service and experience during their meetings.

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Spa
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The hotel also has a brand new luxurious Spa, where two of my colleagues enjoyed a massage, whilst I and another colleague headed off into town to find a local pub to watch Liverpool versus Spurs (Funny considering my colleague is an Arsenal fan and I am an Evertonian!). We didn't realise it was also the Old Firm game that day, so the pub was pretty packed and both games were on. To my surprise there were a lot of Liverpool fans in the pub. To my even greater surprise, they were actually Scousers! I must be honest, it's not something I am used to…. Whenever I meet Liverpool fans outside of Liverpool, they are 9 times out of 10, from anywhere but Liverpool. However, most fellow Evertonians I meet outside of Liverpool are fellow Scousers ;-) hehehe (I know the 4 people that will definitely give me abuse for that!) LOL

Anyway, off the subject slightly, so back on track…
The treatments are, it was reported back to me, heavenly and sent my colleagues into such a state of relaxation and peacefulness that they fell asleep and were late appearing for our transfer back to the airport.

The Spa provides spectacular panoramic views of the County Down coastline and Mountains of Mourne. It has a very contemporary design with luxurious décor, and has been designed in conjunction with the world's leading spa company "ESPA".

The Spa includes 16 therapy suites, a swimming pool, a range of thermal heat experiences and suites with Rock saunas, Lifestyle showers, Amethyst steam rooms and vitality pools over looking the stunning views. The ESPA treatments fuse advanced techniques with ancient therapies to "…. deliver the best bespoke therapeutic experiences in the world." It is the hotel groups' intention to for this Sp to be the best Spa in the whole of Ireland… not such a bold ambition!

All in all, a fabulous hotel for business or leisure, set within fabulously dramatic and picturesque landscape, with the addition of fine Irish hospitality.

Thanks for reading ;-)
Newty