No Business Suit? Don' t Bother

My family and I stayed at the Ramada in Belfast in the fall of 2005. We booked the hotel through an agent in the UK and were given a very good B&B rate (compared to the listed rack rates)for 6 nites. The front desk staff was, in general, very helpful as was the concierge. However, those were the only good things about the hotel. We were on holiday in the UK from North America and not business people. I will attempt to keep my comments short and concise. We were told over the phone the hotel was 20 minutes away walking distance from the city centre, it was 20 minutes away by taxi-60 minutes walking. Everytime we tried to use our room key we had to have it re-swiped. that meant 15 extra trips to and from the front desk to our room. very frustrating!! The room itself had cracks all over the walls as if there had been an earthquake; there were coffee stains all over 3 of the walls in the room. when i nicely asked the front desk manager (older, balding)to have it cleaned up he replied snottily "yeah, uh, okay".. needless to say when we returned to the room 10 hours later a small portion of the stains, on one small wall, had been messily rubbed over. during breakfast one morning we noticed a hotel manager come out of the kitchen and pick a sausage out of the chafing dish with her fingers, even though the tongs were right on the lid that she had to take off in order to get her piggy little fingers on the sausage. The food on the breakfast buffet was adequate, however, they served the same bowl of kiwi fruit and sliced fruit for 4 days. it was slimy, congealing and disgusting. remember, this is a 4 star hotel. the food in the pub was fairly good,however,the service was horrible. unfortunately the majority of service we received was by one young lady. i don't know her name since she didn't wear a name tag. she couldn't be bothered to get you a drink, remove a plate or see if you want to order. remember, this is a 4 star hotel!! her attitude towards her job and the patrons was hostile and patronizing. Everytime we had to deal with a member of the staff we felt that because we were regular people, not business folk, we were lesser patrons. it was a horrible feeling. our bed was not changed once while we were there although it was made. All in all it was a horrible experience. we loved belfast itself, we had a great time with the people and the sites. we would NEVER return here nor would we recommend it to anyone. On a positive note, Geoff from Black Taxi tours (they are in the phone boodk) made our trip. He was awesome. Belfast was great, especially Kelly's Cellars and Benedicts and the trip to Giants Causeway was super cool!!

Ideal if you are looking for a quiet location superb value for money

I stay in the Ramada almost every week and the hotel provides modern rooms - with a very comfortable bed and no noise at all. The swimming pool is very nice - and never too busy. The staff are friendly. The cost-quality ratio is excellent.

On the negative side, the breakfast is mediocre, the bar lacks atmosphere and the evening food is not good. The Indian restaurant next door is quite good and reasonably priced.

The hotel is GBP5-6 taxi ride from the centre of Belfast.

I was impressed enough with the Ramada

I stayed in the Ramada for 3 nights with my girlfriend who was up from Co. Mayo to visit me in Belfast. We took avail of the Summer Specials offer...meaning it was only £27.50 per person per night B&B...which is not a bad price indeed!!!

Not a bad hotel....our room was fine...nothing out of the ordinary!!!...though our window was slightly off its hinges!!!...I reported it on our first morning...had to report it again on the 2nd morning before anything was done!!!...slightly worrying as our room was on the ground floor!!!

Breakfast was absolutely superb...probably the best buffet breakfast I've ever had in a hotel!!! The bar...nice and trendy with a cocktail list!!! Fitness club...OK enough...you have to fill out a form before commence with using it and also there are no lockers for guests, so leave your valuables up in your room!!! £2 for a swimming cap!!!

As for staff...all where fine with me...although my girlfriend witnessed a balding fella behind the reception desk make an old man feel a bit embarrassed about wanting to get Euros changed to sterling!!! The balding guy did change the money, but made such a big issue over the fact that they don't usually exchange money!!!...has he never heard of "respect for you elders"???

Overall...I'd recommend anyone visiting Belfast to stay here...especially if you don't fancy staying in the city centre!!!

Ignore these bad reviews!

My partner and I have just returned from a 2 night stay at the Ramada Belfast and have to say that, contrary to some of the reviews here, we could not fault it at all. The room we had was comfortable, spotlessly clean and had every facility we could need. We had one of our evening meals in the Bistro and it was perfect and the breakfast had everything anyone could wish to eat. The swimming pool and fitness centre were extremely clean and well kept.We had no problems with the staff and found them helpful, courteous and pleasant and always willing to help. The hotel is not in the centre of Belfast city but that is made clear in their advertising but it is in a very nice countryside park area and the city can be reached in a few minutes by car.We will definately be going back there again and, hopefully this time, to say longer than two nights.

30th Disaster

Do not stay in this hotel, the management are rude beyond belief. Below is a letter of complaint I have just sent to the Ramada and I doubt I will hear anything from them

Dear Sir / Madam,

On Saturday the 13th of August 2005 my cousin booked and paid for a room (room 6) in the Ramada hotel in Belfast as a gift for my 30th birthday. At about 11:45 myself and several others returned to the hotel where we stayed in the residents bar. At 2:30 my wife and I parted company with the others and returned to our room where we stayed until 03:15 when our door rapped so loudly we thought someone was trying to kick their way through it. The manager then proceeded to let himself into the room and told us we had fifteen minutes to pack up and get the F*** Out of the hotel. When I asked what he was talking about I was informed that someone he associated with us had set off a fire extinguisher in the direction of his person. At this point my wife and I proceeded to pack up and make our way out to reception. We tried several times at this point to explain that we had been in our room for the better part of the last hour and had no idea what had occurred. For approximately 10 minutes my wife attempted to explain calmly our situation. The manager of the hotel was so rude and relentless that he reduced my wife to tears in reception. It was so bad the even other guests who had witnessed the event in question were telling your manager that we had nothing to do with it and they felt he was needlessly upsetting two innocent people. The manager took no notice of them and continued to embarrass us.

I can understand the managers anger at what had happened to him, if it was me I would be angry myself. However to take his revenge on two paying guests whom he knew had no part in the incident is an absolute disgrace. My wife worked exceptionally hard to ensure my 30th birthday was a wonderful occasion, the actions of your staff have ensured exactly the opposite. My wife has never been so embarrassed in her entire life and my 30th birthday is now something I can only hope only to forget.

For the record my wife does not consume alcohol so any insinuation that staff were dealing with a drunk is completely untrue. When we entered the hotel it was made clear that as I was the resident only I would be able to order drinks, therefore any insinuation that those with us claimed to be residents is again wholly untrue. We do not know who set off the fire extinguisher and after our treatment at the hands of your manager we would not in any way assist him in finding out who did. Your manager has got the police involved and we have informed them that our treatment was such that they also would receive no cooperation from us if we felt it would benefit your manager in any way whatsoever. Should I hear any more at all from them I will raise the question concerning why non residents were served alcohol for almost an hour after we had departed.

I would expect the money for the room to be refunded and I would also expect to be compensated for the taxi fare from your hotel to Lisburn where we are fortunate enough to have family willing to put us up until our flight the following day. There is no way we will ever stay in any hotel associated with yourselves again so it is now simply a case of damage limitation on your part. I would also like an apology in writing from the manager in question.

I look forward to your written response.

Good hotel in peaceful location

Returned to the Ramada after a gap of six months. In spite of criticisms by other people on this site, we still think this is the best place to stay in Belfast. Very peaceful location overlooking the valley of the river Lagan, close to the best part of Belfast and only two miles from the city centre. Plenty of free parking. Large, well furnished rooms and one of the best buffet breakfasts I have had in staying at more than 200 hotels all over the world.

Particularly good location for anyone who enjoys jogging in a very beautiful area.

Our only real complaints relate to the unreliable key cards and the fact that there seemed to be only one person on reception in the evening.

Useless Keycards

I stayed here on business Jan 2005. I had five trips up and down to reception before I got a keycard that worked. Nice room when I finally got in!!! However it was Very cold. Finally got moved at 10pm that night-so much for my early night! Planters need to be under the stairway or you can walk into it coming out of downstairs room. I did and damaged my neck. Desk staff very pleasant but ineffectual. I got a one night complimentary stay IF I return to Belfast. Why would I? Teacher, Scotland

Great rooms, poor service

The front of house staff were incompetent. Clearly they were in training but all seemed to have a long way to go. There were problems with the simplest things at both check-in and check-out.

The room we had was however very good indeed. The overall design of the hotel is not very interesting.

Don't forget that this is some way outside Belfast city centre.

Dirty breakfast tables

Stayed a Saturday night. The rooms were fine. The health centre was excellent.

However, service at breakfast was atrocious! We were shown to a table that had not been cleaned. The crockery was filthy: in particular, one teacup was filled with glitter and confetti, etc . I showed it to the duty manager, who offered to replace it, but was not in the least perturbed. We had to ask four times before we got coffee, and then had to ask for milk too.

I would have filled in a feedback form, had one been available!

Pick of the bunch

I have stayed in all of the four and five star hotels in Belfast and would recommend this as the best value

The only drawback is its location which is a little way outside the centre

It is clean, the staff are friendly and the food in the restaurant last week was excellent quality