Still Belfast's Christmas No.1

It’s the festive season again and as usual we find ourselves asking where has the year gone?!  Hurricane Abigail has well & truly blown any remains of our questionable Indian summer away...  Now we're getting wrapped up in our hats & scarves enjoying sunny Sunday strolls along the Lagan, under a cascade of crisp multi-coloured falling leaves.  As quick as it was, 2015 has been yet another fantastic year for Northern Ireland. A year in which 'wee' Belfast won a spot on the global edition of the board game Monopoly after being voted in the top 10 most popular destinations. Sure we knew it was only a matter of time, with endless things to do and see, the warmest of welcomes, the craic and of course, the people, we had to be up there! 

Hurtling towards the date when the big man arrives, the Christmas spirit in our beautiful city is infectious at this time of year. Belfast is transformed over-night into a spirit-warming winter wonderland with twinkling lights and the aroma of Glühwein escaping from the festive Christmas market adorning our majestic City Hall.  The market, complete with over 80 wooden chalets, reflects images of the Continental Christmas Markets we only dreamed about visiting in our darkest times. Here you can always find the perfect Christmas gift; hats & gloves, handmade jewellery, wooden toys, satchels, socks, handbags, essential oils, crystals & locally crafted paintings & sculptures and much, much more!

Your senses will be pushed to the limit with delicious gastronomic delights that include crepes from France, Belgian chocolates and an exotic selection of ostrich, wild boar and crocodile burgers for those with a taste for adventure. Plenty of photo opportunities to be had also for families & big children alike with the return of the well-loved snow globe & carousel, a popular hangout each year for those romantics who wish to get down on bended knee somewhere memorable!

Another must see is St Georges Market which is without doubt an institution in itself, built in 1890-1896 it is one of Belfast City’s oldest attractions.  Not only due to the magnificent building itself but the many personalities that work within its walls. Since its £4.5m refurbishment in 1997, this charming Victorian building offers one of the most vibrant and colourful destinations for locals & tourists alike. The atmosphere is cosmopolitan, friendly & relaxed, with foods from around the globe simmering away in the background. If it’s just kicking back for a lazy Sunday Morning coffee, catching up with friends over the ‘to die for’ raspberry & pistachio tart or routing through the numerous craft and antique stalls, St Georges Variety Market is the place for you.

So you can soak up all this wonderful festive spirit in one of the top 10 city break destinations, we have created two winter warming Christmas packages, just for you. Our first is to celebrate Tara Lodge being voted the number one hotel in Belfast on Tripadvisor for the eighth consecutive year!  The Tripadvisor’s Christmas No.1 ‘parcel’ has everything you need to make this hectic time of year a little more relaxing and fun. Perfect to get into the Belfast festive spirit and kick start that ever essential Christmas shopping!  Our second, ‘Baby its Cold Outside’ package is for all those lovebirds looking a cosy, romantic winter getaway.  All of course within a stone’s throw from the bright lights of Belfast City centre, just in-case you fancy a night on the town too.

Tripadvisor’s No.1: Enjoy an overnight stay in a beautiful Deluxe double or twin room, a la carte breakfast. A bottle of sparkling Prosecco awaits you on arrival accompanied with an exclusive £25.00 voucher for Belfast City’s most stylish indoor shopping centre, Victoria Square. Stay cosy for a little longer with a late 2pm check-out and leave your car in our secure car park until 5pm on the day of departure, just in-case there are any last minute stocking fillers to grab.

Baby it's Cold Outside: Enjoy an overnight stay in a luxurious Signature Double with a rose scattered king-size bed. A bottle of sparkling Prosecco awaits you on arrival accompanied with sumptuous chocolate dipped strawberries and a selection of romance gifts. You can stay cosy a little longer with a fabulous a la carte breakfast delivered to your room the following morning.

To book any of our packages or an overnight stay simply click on the following link https://www.taralodge.com/ or contact our reservations team directly on 02890 590900 or info@taralodge.com

Now recommended in the Michelin Guide 2016

Tara Lodge opened its doors in March 1998. Since then we have been serving the many guests who have passed through our doors, offering stylish hotel bedrooms, pristine ensuites with a tasty, locally sourced a la carte breakfast. In September 2007, after a complete refurbishment, Tara Lodge was transformed into a boutique hotel with well equipped, beautifully formed hotel bedrooms and excellent facilities including high speed WiFi and secure car parking.

In recent years we have made it our daily goal to exceed the expectations of each guest who comes to stay at Tara Lodge, Belfast. Our many online reviews and awards received in 2015 demonstrate our continued commitment to delivering a quality hotel experience for our valued customers.

In November 2015 we were delighted to receive the news that we have been included in the prestigious Michelin Guide 2016. Indeed the influential guide has seen the vibrant and trendy Queens Quarter of Belfast city attain, not one but two illustrious Michelin endorsements.  As well as our own listing, our partner restaurant Deanes at Queens has been awarded a Michelin 'Bib Gourmand'. Deanes at Queens is a modern brasserie offering tasty, beautifully presented food with professional service in chic surroundings.

 

Our location in Queens Quarter of Belfast with its enviable leafy location is a treasure trove of bohemian shops, cafes, theatres, restaurants, bars & galleries. The recently renovated Ulster Museum and the magnificent buildings of Queens University are the perfect backdrop for any city break and all of this is only a 15 minute stroll from the centre of Belfast City. The Botanical Gardens are perfect, whether in winter or summer for a stroll, away from the bustle of the city.

The Michelin endorsed duo Tara Lodge and Deanes at Queens, have put together the perfect mid-week hotel deal. Enjoy a luxurious overnight stay in one of our stylish Deluxe Rooms. After a warm welcome enjoy a glass of bubbly with tasty, exclusive Tara Lodge chocolates in your comfortable, relaxing room. After a while get your glad rags on for a gastronomic delight at the fabulous Deanes at Queens (£50.00 voucher).  The perfect duo for a perfect getaway….

To book your stay at our boutique hotel in Belfast contact our award winning reservations team on 028 9059 0900 or by email to info@taralodge.com. Go direct and book the Michelin Queens Quarter hotel deal online at www.taralodge.com from just £63.00 per person or book a room with rates from just £78.00 for an Annex Double (£71.00 prepaid) with a full, freshly cooked breakfast, high speed WiFi and access to our secure car park. We look forward to welcoming you to Tara Lodge this winter in Belfast.

Tara Lodge, Belfast - we're best for business

Make sure Tara Lodge is always your number 1 hotel when staying in Belfast on business. Travelling for work isn’t always as glamorous as the movies make it out to be. With 5am starts, queuing at airport security and an endless day of meetings, your day can be more ‘Con Air’ than ‘Up’. Chose to stay at Tara Lodge on your next trip to Belfast and you won’t regret it. Our award winning boutique hotel offers excellent hotel bedrooms and our team consistently deliver exceptional customer service, as evidenced by our many guest reviews.

Our reception team, the Northern Ireland Hotel Federation Reception Team of the Year 2015, will offer you a warm welcome, with friendly professional service and you’ll be checked in to your stylish, Deluxe room in minutes. Our 4 star hotel bedrooms offer all the extras required to make being away from home a little easier – a huge king size pillow top bed, exclusive Orla Keily toiletries, a flatscreen TV with DVD player, a hairdryer, iron and iron board, a laptop safe, a work station with excellent lighting and tea and coffee facilities.

To our regular corporate customers we offer all inclusive, discounted business rates. We also offer an exclusive corporate client booking facility with guaranteed easy booking, billing and account handling. There are no hidden extras at Tara Lodge!

Our complimentary high speed Wifi and local calls will make any work quick and easy. And if you have to work in your room you can order in favourite foods from a selection of local eateries. Our greatlocation means we’re close to all arterial routes and we’re just 10 minutes by car from Belfast City Airport.

If you’re driving we also offer access to our free, secure car park (we are one of the very few Belfast hotels with free car parking) and our fabulous, a la carte breakfast will give your day a great kick start. Above all our established, award winning team will offer you a concierge style service – we know how to get things done and quickly! We are definitely your best choice of all the Belfast hotels. Discover Tara Lodge today. DeluxeSingles (Double Bed with Single Occupancy) from £71.00 per night (breakfast, WiFi and car parking included).

If you are interested in opening an account or enquiring about our discounted business rates at Tara Lodge please contact our Front Office Manager, Pauline McCullough, on 028 9059 0900 or by email to Pauline@taralodge.com.  

Announcing our exclusive Orla Keily Geranium Bath & Body Toiletries

At Tara Lodge, Belfast we are delighted to announce that we are now offering the luxurious Orla Keily Geranium Bath & Body range in all our room types from September 2015. We are the only property in Belfast to offer this exclusive range of toiletries with the distinctive Orla Keily stem print. Already the luxurious, fragrant bathroom items are proving a great success with our guests.

The Orla Keily toiletries collection is a unique unisex fragrance containing a blend of 10 essential oils that will appeal to all our guests ensuring a fabulous cleansing experience. This exclusive range is a great addition to the Tara Lodge brand as we continue to develop our product ensuring we exceed our guest expectations every time. Our boutique hotel bedrooms offer offer ultra-comfortable King Koil hotel beds with sumptuous chocolate & gold soft furnishings and stylish & perfectly designed pale, oak furniture, with all the comforts of home.

Our luxury hotel bathrooms with chrome Touch fittings and a soothing charcoal and white design are complimented by the luxurious Orla Keily Geranium Bath & Body range. With the distinctive Orla Keily stem print design and the beautiful scent including geranium, eucalyptus and clary sage our toiletries are sure to relax and refresh the mind. Indeed the super Grohe power shower is sure to leave you refreshed and rejuvenated. 

Orla Keily, an Irish fashion designer, based in London is famous for her retro patterns which are quirky and sophisticated. Orla Keily has grown into a global brand with a range that includes ready-to-wear, stationary, travel and homeware as well as home fragrance and bath & body.  Orla’s love for all things from the 1950 & 1960’s inspired her to create charming and uplifting prints with the signature ‘stem print’ the most instantly recognisable.

Contact our award winning reception team on 028 9059 0900 or by email to info@taralodge.com to reserve one of our stylish rooms to enjoy our new exclusive Orla Keily range. Go direct and book the best hoteldeal online at www.taralodge.com with rates from just £78.00 for an Annex Double room with a full, freshly cooked breakfast, high speed WiFi and access to our secure car park. We look forward to hosting you at Tara Lodge this autumn. 

Belfast’s Queens Quarter Dining Delights with Tara Lodge

We’ve finally hit holiday time, despite what the weather is telling us! This August there is plenty to do in Belfast with numerous music festivals taking place including Belsonic, Tennent’s Vital  and Feile an Phobail. At Tara Lodge, the best boutique hotel in Belfast, we have put together the perfect package with the Queens Quarter’s finest offerings. This super trendy area of Belfast is a treasure trove of bohemian shops, cafes, theatres, restaurants, bars, galleries, the Ulster Museum and the magnificent buildings of Queens University - the perfect area to spend a couple of days.

Relax with a luxurious two night stay in one of our stylish 4 star hotel rooms at the award winning Tara lodge and get your glad rags on for a gastronomic delight at the famous Deanes at Queens (£50.00 voucher).  Your night does not end there, head for a cultural feast at the stunning Lyric Theatre to enjoy the current show. There’s no need to rush home, mingle in the Lyric’s wine bar whilst soaking up the views of Belfast’s beautiful River Lagan. The perfect end to a perfect night…

This special hotel deal celebrates the best that the Queens Quarter has to offer with 2 night stay in a Deluxe Double or Twin Room. You will receive a voucher for £50.00 towards lunch or dinner at Deanes at Queens (see sample menu). Two tickets to see either Dancing at Lughnasa or The Night Alive at the superb Lyric Theatre will await you in your room along with our exclusive Tara Lodge Chocolates & Welcome Card.

On both mornings enjoy breakfast room service with the items of your choice delivered to your hotel room at your preferred time. Also included in this great package is our high speed Wi-Fi and access to our secure off-street car park.

From £116.00 per person sharing from 26 August 2015 mid-week only. Offer is subject to availability. Package fully pre-paid at time of booking, payment is non-refundable. Please note there are no shows on at the Lyric Theatre on a Monday. Evening performances 7.45pm.

Contact our reception team on 028 9059 0900 or by email to info@taralodge.com to book this great offer. Go direct and book the best hotel deal online at www.taralodge.com with rates from just £79.00 for an Annex Double room with a full, freshly cooked breakfast, high speed WiFi and access to our secure car park. We look forward to hosting you at Tara Lodge this summer in Belfast.

The Best Breakfast in Belfast

Belfast is fast becoming a foodie’s paradise and is gaining a reputation for innovative cooking with wonderful fresh, local produce. The city is full of a whole range of eateries; from fine dining restaurants, to fantastic delis, gastro-pubs and cosy bistros. In recent years Belfast has been put on the food map with great restaurants including Ox, Shu and Deanes at Queens. At Tara Lodge, a superb boutique hotel in south Belfast, in the Queens Quarter, as well as offering four star hotel bedrooms, we take great pride in offering an outstanding breakfast.

Many hotels offer a disappointing hot buffet display but each one of our hot breakfast dishes is freshly prepared, for each one of our guests. Our breakfast chef, Colin Douds, is often heard reminding the team of his motto ‘five star standards guys’! And Colin definitely has five star standards when it comes to the Tara Lodge a la carte breakfast. He understands the importance of using excellent, locally produced food to ensure the best quality ingredients.

Our breads are delivered daily from Hyndmans Bakery; wheaten, soda, potato breads and pancakes of the finest quality. Our bacon and sausages come from JH Givans, who have been providing the finest pork products since 1938. Our eggs are laid just up the road and brought to us by the Caldwell Bros. Ltd. The freshly laid eggs make wonderfully fluffy omelettes!

Our porridge has become famous among our guests who often ask for the recipe. Made with Irish porridge oats and milk, Colin whisks the porridge to perfection, giving it a lovely light, frothy texture. Served with a choice of seasonal berries, banana & honey or a tot of Irish whiskey it’s a great start to your day.

Ah the fabulous, Ulster Fry! Slightly different to the Irish Fry, the Ulster Fry has the traditional soda and potato breads, along with the usual fried egg, bacon, sausage and tomato - Mushrooms and beans are optional!

As well as the Ulster Fry we offer scrambled eggs with Irish smoked salmon and wheaten bread made with whole wheat flour and buttermilk, perfectly poached eggs on hot buttered toast, pancakes with smoked bacon and maple syrup (one of the few non-locally sourced ingredients!), fluffy omelettes and the steadfast boiled eggs with soda bread soldiers.

Breakfast is definitely the most important meal of the day at Tara Lodge. You’ll not be hungry until dinner time after you have had the power porridge and Ulster Fry but when you do we also offer dinner, bed and breakfast packages with two great restaurants, ShuRestaurant and Deanes at Queens – our long term favourites!

Fancy trying our mouth-watering, freshly cooked breakfast at Tara Lodge? Book an overnight stay or one of our fabulous Belfast Hotel Deals!  Our rates are all-inclusive of free parking and free high speed Wi-Fi. Simply click on the following link to check out our rooms & current range of fantastic packages! https://www.taralodge.com/

Our favourite things for you to do in Belfast while at Tara Lodge

Belfast City Hall in the summer sun

If you’re in need of an incredible city break, a weekend of adventure, culture, atmosphere and fun, Belfast is definitely the place to be!  Anyone who lives in our cracking little city knows this already and could easily rhyme off a million and one things to do to fill ten days, never mind two.  For guests that are new to Belfast, Tara Lodge (Belfast’s Number One Hotel on Tripadvisor since 2007) decided to ask you, the experts, for your favourite hotspots in and around Belfast….needless to say we were inundated!  

Belfast is without doubt known as one of, if not the friendliest city in Europe.  Our born & bred always go that extra mile to make sure all visitors have a memorable visit. We have some of the trendiest nightclubs, enviable shopping and enough eateries to satisfy every taste and budget. Local and international artists and bands flock to perform at fantastic venues like Belfast Waterfront and the world class SSE Arena. With walking, bus and taxi tours, cultural escapes, scientific exhibitions and literary inspirations, guests will leave with no shadow of a doubt why Belfast is the city that inspired the Chronicles of Narnia and Gulliver’s Travels! 

So what is the best of the best in Belfast then?  The list is limitless but here’s your top suggestions!

Best Hotel in Belfast:  Naturally Tara Lodge got the only vote on this one!  Our award winning Belfast Hotel is a luxury 34 bedroom, 4 star Boutique Hotel based in the very heart of Belfast’ Queens Quarter. Tara Lodge has racked up a stack of awards in 2015; AAGuest Accommodation of the year for Northern Ireland, NIHF Reception Team of the Year, NIHF Housekeeping Team of the Year & a highly commended for hotel of the year in the recent Belfast Business Awards!  Needless to say it has been a great year so far.

Best Places to Eat in Belfast:  The top spots that came in were the fabulous French Inspired Shu Restaurant on the Lisburn Road and the delightful Deanes at Queens which is led by Head Chef Chris Fearon, of Great British Menu fame.  Botanic Avenue proved a very popular area for the foodies with Molly’s Yard & the Metro Kitchen coming up trumps and of course the amazing a la carte breakfast provided by Tara Lodge, with special mentions going to the scrumptious homemade soda & potato bread.  For fish food lovers there is only one place to dine, The Mourne Seafood Restaurant, situated right beside Belfast’s famous Kelly’s cellars.

Places to see:   Unmissable spots included St George’s Market, where hundreds of stalls cluster beneath its fine Victorian canopy to sell specialty foods, antiques, crafts and clothes. A stop at the nearby National Trust Owned, Crown Liquor Saloon is perfect for a little liquid refreshment. You can take a free tour of the outrageously majestic City Hall before heading for the upmarket Victoria Square shopping center, where you can ascend to a glass dome that affords panoramic views of the city. Fibber Magee’s Traditional Irish Music Bar is the genuine article; a good old spit and sawdust bar, packed to the rafters with little bits of history and steeped in Irish tradition.

Things to do:  Top of the list is the world famous Titanic Belfast.  Its recent accolade of the being voted the best Visitor attraction in Europe for 2015 speaks for itself!   Take Paddy Campbell’s Black Taxi Tour for an awe inspiring social & political Tour of Belfast, definitely not one to be missed!  You also cannot miss the sometimes spine chilling Crumlin Road Gaol which dates back to 1845 and unbelievably only closed its doors as a working prison in 1996! 

From the moment you arrive, the energy in Belfast is palpable. Its bustling pace, its atmosphere, its warm spirit and open armed welcome leave visitors in no doubt that this is a city that is well & truly making its mark as a top European City Break! 

Why not sample some of these delightful offerings & take a luxury break at the fabulous Tara Lodge! Book an overnight stay or one of our fabulous Belfast HotelDeals!  Our rates are all-inclusive of free parking, free high speed Wi-Fi and our mouth-watering a la carte breakfast! Simply click on the following link to check out our rooms & current range of fantastic packages! https://www.taralodge.com/