a large building Belfast
The Ibis Hotel Belfast. Photo: Ibis Belfast City Centre Facebook.

Belfast Ibis Hotel Wins Award for Best Budget Hotel

The Belfast Ibis City Centre Hotel, part of the worldwide economy hotel chain, was named “Best Budget Hotel in Ireland” in the Irish Hotel Awards 2021 competition for the second year in a row.

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The 3-star hotel is operated by the Andras Hotels franchise, the city’s largest hotel group.

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Photo: Ibis Belfast City Centre Facebook.

The other IBIS hotel in Belfast is located in the Queen’s Quarter section of the city.

In Dublin, you’ll find an Ibis hotel in Clondalkin, about 20 minutes from Dublin’s city center.

If you’re thinking of visiting Belfast, be sure to consider the Ibis Belfast City Centre Hotel.

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One of the bedrooms at the award-winning Ibis Hotel Belfast. Photo: Ibis Belfast City Centre Facebook.

The facility has 124 rooms, some with double beds, and others with twin beds.

Prices start at around $52 per night for a couple sharing a room.

Breakfast is not included in the cost of the room. The price of that is around $11 per person and includes an extensive continental breakfast offering.

Lunch and a la carte dinner services are available, as well as light meals throughout the night.

Other winners of the 2021 awards included the following:

Hotel Restaurant of the Year: The Glasshouse, Sligo, the Carlton Hotel, Dublin Airport, The Address Cork Hotel, Cork City, and the overall winner, Titanic Hotel in Belfast.

3-Star Hotel of the Year: The Wyatt Hotel in Westport; the Woodford Dolmen Hotel in Carlow; the Causeway Hotel in Bushmills, Co. Antrim; and the overall winner, The Great National South Court Hotel in Limerick.

4-Star Hotel of the Year: The Lodge at Ashford Castle, Co. Mayo; The Lodges at Kilkea Castle, Co. Kildare; Maryborough Hotel & Spa in Cork; Killeavy Castle Estate; and the winner, The Lodge at Ashford Castle.

The other winners can be found on the Irish Hotel Awards website.

The Belfast Ibis Hotel is close to some of the city’s most popular attractions including the following:

Titanic Belfast

Undoubtedly one of Belfast’s most popular attractions, Titanic Belfast is part of a complex that sits on over 185 acres.

It is a 9-minute walk from the hotel to this attraction.

Titanic Belfast includes the museum itself and a mix of residential and commercial spaces.

The HBO series, “Game of Thrones,” was filmed in the nearby Paint Hall Studios, which is part of the complex.

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The exterior of Titanic Belfast, the city's most popular tourist attraction. Photo: Titanic Belfast.

Give yourself plenty of time to see everything here.

There are various galleries spread out over several floors, with initial displays on the lower floors focused on the story of Belfast and how it became an industrial giant in the areas of linen, rope-making, and whiskey distilling.

In addition to the many galleries that you’ll pass through, Titanic Belfast also showcases a number of amazing artifacts that also tell the story of this great ocean liner.

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One of the many galleries at Titanic Belfast. Photo courtesy of Titanic Belfast.

Some include the last luncheon menu that its first-class passengers enjoyed before the ship struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912.

The menu included corned beef, dumplings, grilled lamb chops, veal and ham pie, and an assortment of desserts, among other scrumptious offerings.

Other artifacts on display include the different types of bone china that were used by the liner’s passengers; the original 33-foot Titanic plan created by The White Star’s architect, Cecil Arthur Allen; a launch day ticket, which still bears the original perforated stub, and the original promotional brochure advertising the liner’s ability to cross the North Atlantic in style.

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The original Titanic Launch Day ticket. Photo: Adam Jones, https://www.flickr.com/photos/adam_jones/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Like most other tourist attractions across Northern Ireland, you must purchase tickets ahead of time.

Once you arrive at the facility from your accommodation in Belfast, you will be expected to scan your own ticket and as you move through the museum, social distancing and other protocols are encouraged.

The Cathedral Quarter

Belfast’s old warehousing district has been transformed in recent years with the addition of some great hotels, restaurants, pubs, and a vibrant street art culture that can be found here and in other parts of Belfast.

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The Merchant Hotel Great Room courtesy of Tourism Northern Ireland.

The notable attractions in the Cathedral Quarter are within a 4-minute walk from the Belfast Ibis Hotel.

They include the Merchant Hotel, a historic 19th-century building that originally housed the Ulster Bank.

It is now a 5-star hotel. Its most breathtaking asset is its Great Room, featuring Ireland’s largest chandelier.

A special Afternoon Tea at the hotel is a real treat.

It costs £32.50 (Monday-Friday) or £37.50 (at the weekends) and includes finger sandwiches, scones, a delicious selection of seasonal cakes and pastries, as well as tea or coffee.

a spire on the top of a church Belfast Ibis Hotel
St. Anne's Cathedral is pictured here with its famous spire. Photo courtesy of Claudiodivizia

Other attractions include St. Anne’s Cathedral, a 19th-century Romanesque-style building that also includes the stainless steel Spire of Hope, which was installed in 2007.

The church, known too as Belfast Cathedral, is also a 4-minute walk from the Belfast Ibis Hotel.

Other interesting places to visit include The Friend at Hand, a whiskey off-license that also serves as a mini-museum, which is a stone's throw from the Merchant Hotel.

Private tastings are available by contacting the emporium at [email protected].

If you’re a Game of Thrones fan, be sure to pop into the Dark Horse, a popular pub, restaurant, and coffee house where you’ll find the 10th installment of the Game of Throne Doors.

It will literally take you a few minutes to get to this popular watering hole from the Belfast Ibis Hotel.

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The Game of Thrones door at the Dark Horse Pub in Belfast. Photo: The Dark Horse Facebook.

The doors came from felled trees located at Northern Ireland’s Dark Hedges (better known in the series as the “Kingsroad”).

They had blown over during Storm Gertrude in 2016.

Each door depicts scenes from Season 6 of the popular series. They are hung in various locations across Northern Ireland.

The one at the Dark Horse showcases the state of Westeros as Season 6 draws to a close.

While you’re in Belfast, be sure to also check out the Glass of Thrones trail.

The Grand Opera House

A great example of the city’s Victorian architecture is Belfast’s Grand Opera House.

A 3-minute walk from the Belfast Ibis Hotel, this beautiful building has been lovingly restored over the years after being damaged by an IRA bomb in the early 1990s.

a building lit up Belfast Ibis Hotel
The Grand Opera House in Belfast. Photo: Albert Bridge, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14233240

Some of its fine interior features include carved elephant heads that frame the auditorium's private boxes.

At the opera house, you can see operas of course, in addition to musicals, plays, ballets, dance, and family shows, as well as pantomimes during the holiday season.

Belfast City Hall

Also close to the Belfast Ibis Hotel is one of the city's most iconic buildings. Located on Donegall Square, Belfast City Hall opened its doors in 1906.

a large building in red light Belfast Ibis Hotel
Belfast City Hall. Photo: Benkrut for Getty Images.

The White Linen Hall, an important international linen industry exchange, once stood where the city hall is now located.

The area is close to the city’s Linen Quarter.

Plans for city hall began in 1888 after Queen Victoria granted Belfast its city status, in recognition of its rapidly expanding industrial base.

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The elaborate dome in the Belfast City Hall. Photo: Robert Montgomery, https://www.flickr.com/photos/rmonty119/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

In fact, Belfast overtook Dublin in population during this time due to the plentiful nature of work in the city, although much of it was given to Protestants.

The interior of the hall has a number of notable features, including its grand entrance and grand staircase.

Read More: 10 Affordable Hotels in Belfast that are Worth Staying in

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