"I am not a huge fan of public reviews, I would prefer to just deal with the people who can make changes directly but I had an email from house hotel to share my thoughts on trip advisor. I hope that the management read this and truly take it to heart. I would like for their business to flourish, but I would also like potential bookers not to be deceived. And I use that word carefully as the photos on the house hotel Belfast are utterly deceptive. The hotel may have looked clean, fresh, modern and inviting at some point in its past but it certainly does not now. If you are reading this as and you are thinking about booking, read about my experience below and make up your own mind but if you decide to book and go ahead, you will find out that every word of my review is true.
I arrived for a 2-night stay around 20:00 in the evening after a long drive; the hotel looked dreary and grubby and was on a busy street where it was hard to know where to park. I went in the main door and the first thing I saw in front of me was stairs to the toilets which were well signposted - weirdly there was no sign for reception which was in another place altogether. The reception was dark, grubby and there was no-one behind the desk which was mostly taken up with an enormous photocopier. One wall of that room was taken up with very old and broken cupboards where you could see dirty mops and buckets. I saw a tiny sign which said that you need to find the barman if you needed to check in. No signs for the bar but I found it and two barmen were deep in conversation and slightly annoyed that they had to come and look after me. The barman turned receptionist told me the lift was behind the thick curtain and that I could use the stairs “at your peril” which was worrying. I asked him about parking and he said “there is an app I think, but I don't drive so...”
The hotel gives a vibe on the website that it is boutique, chic and kind of quirky. A pulp fiction paper and dodgy wallpaper doesn't quite do that though! I decided to use the stairs at my peril and there were large yellow cleaning in progress signs all over the place - they were there throughout my two-day stay although there was no cleaning happening at any point.
In fact, there was an off smell in the reception, a worse smell on the stairs (quite bad in fact) and then another odd odour in the room.
All in all it was a terrible welcome from reception, and my deep sense was that someone stopped caring about this place a long time ago.
The room itself was adequate but small, dark and quite cold. I rang for reception but the phone was broken. A kind night porter did hear something from the reception phone and came to my assistance. I asked for blankets but this was not possible - he supplied an electric heater.
I tried to have a shower before turning in for the night but a trickle and a sputter was what greeted me.
Thankfully there was not too much noise through the night and I slept well.
Breakfast was nice - but there is no buffet, just what was available on a sheet of paper. The man serving the breakfast was kind and conversational and my chat with him was the highlight of the stay.
Day 2 I was at a conference and coming back to the hotel that evening, I was actually just dreading it and wishing I could just go home.
The hotel feels like a student hostel - it is dark, dreary, unloved, and in need of a serious deep clean.
No-one involved with this hotel cares about hospitality or what it takes to create a warm and inviting space.
I recommend, closing down for a month, getting a manager who cares about people who has a modicum of pride in presenting a hotel that is clean and comfortable and just re-boot when the hotel looks a little bit more like the photos.
I would like this business to flourish but in the meantime I have to warn potential bookers again that the photos and some of the positive reviews are deceptive.
If you go and stay yourself, you fill find out exactly what I mean.
I have tried to be honest and fair in my review."
