Botanic Rest — Hotel in Belfast

We had an awful experience at the Botanic Rest. This place should be classified as a hostel and not a B&B. We travelled all across Ireland and by far this is the worst place we stayed, so much so that we had to move to a proper hotel which may I add cost the same and was a 100% better. The room that we had was quoted for £150 for 2 adults and 2 children and we complained the moment we checked in and the only plus about this place is that the manager Phil lowered the price to £115 and was quite courteous - however we still felt scammed. There were 4 single beds in the room, very bad mattresses; the coils pushed onto our ribs as we slept. The room was at street level and was very smelly and it was difficult to leave the windows open as the neighbourhood was not very safe (drug dealers on the street corners). The carpet in the room felt so dirty that I did not want to walk around without my shoes. Needless to say we did not sleep much the one evening we stayed there (and the sheets smelled very bad and were synthetic - not good for people with allergies). Everything felt so bad that my kids and I did not even want to have a shower in the morning - my husband did though and to top it all off, there was not hot water, actually not even warm water! And finally, the breakfast left much to be desired; we just had a look and left to eat elsewhere - dry bread and bad juice is not our idea of what a B&B should include. Also, their payment machine was not working. It is very disappointing to have had this experience as all of our B&B experiences were great throughout Ireland. The thing is it does not take much to improve on a few things and it is an awful feeling to feel scammed while on holiday (which of course does happen sometimes!) - if the room was priced at £60 for the night I would have understood but they are having a laugh pricing it at £150 when we moved to The Marriott for that same price and may I add that they are incomparable! And finally, this is what the terminology for a B&B in Ireland is according to Wikipedia - this place was not family owned and the people working there were just staff.

Ireland Registered Irish B&Bs are star rated by Fáilte Ireland. Generally, B&Bs in Ireland are family owned & run, with a small percentage being leased/managed but still with the personal service expected in this sector. Owners / Managers nearly always live on the premises. Breakfast can mean a cooked "Irish Fry" or continental...

AVOID AT ALL COST

If I could give this 0 I would. My mum booked this place for the night last Saturday (3rd August) for a concert which also happened to fall on pride day so town was busy.

I live in Belfast but couldn’t accommodate all 4 people so they decided to book here.

On arrival they were greeted by a man that was friendly (enough) but still had a sharp tone. When 4 people arrived he started about the room only being booked for 3 people. That was fine, my mum said she could stay with me and that sorted that...except all of a sudden a £100 deposit had to be put down. This wasn’t prearranged nor was it mentioned on the site when booked.

Obviously this caused tension with the party but 2 people went outside while my mum and aunt stayed inside to sort it out. After scraping together a last minute £100 my aunt gave it to the man only to be told then no, they were kicked out.

Based on her attitude to the last minute request was the reason they were now all kicked out. She was called a drunk (which she wasn’t) and my mum jokes that she was the drunk to try and lighten the situation which didn’t work.

After all that, they were left no where to stay and missed half of their concert. I phoned serval places to find somewhere but last minute during pride day as well as concerts....wasn’t happening. They had to prepare themselves to sleep in the car for the night. But luckily, one of the parties didn’t drink and they had to do a 2hr drive home at 1am.

His attitude, and quick actions without explanation is shocking and disgusting. Didn’t even think of the consequences to leaving these 4 (older) women homeless for the night.

My theory is that because Belfast was busy and they showed up in the late afternoon, he had already sold the room on. He was very quick to start an argument and tension and with the first sense of an unsatisfactory attitude he kicked them out.

Not only that but the place really isn’t up to scratch as other b and bs around Belfast and CERTAINLY not for the price.

This is a lesson learned. But if you want good quality and cheaper, look around Belfast. Even if it’s a little out of town centre. Save yourself double the money and just pay a taxi to the centre. Your health, hygiene and integrity will...

Botanic Rest Hotel. Our room 44, was just big enough for the two of us, with our own bathroom which included the shower, sink and toilet. The building is spread across three floors with no lifts, but easy enough to access. Our floor had some extra toilets and showers which came in handy sometimes! You get a fob to access the building and a key to access your room. Towels were changed each day and the bed was made each day. (We stayed for 4 nights). The ground floor has the reception, a TV room with a sink and a microwave, and a breakfast room which serves free breakfast from 8am till 10am. Cornflakes, oats, fruit juice, water, milk, bread, tea, coffee, butter, jam and a toaster are freely provided! No sausages, bacon eggs etc, but for free, this was perfect for us! Location was excellent with No 7 buses stopping roughly 40 yards away and No 8 buses stopping on the next street, roughly 150 yards away. I have to give David on reception a special mention. He was friendly, professional and courteous at all times, especially during check in and check out. When we needed something for our room, he made sure it arrived within minutes. Louise gave us hints and tips for places to go for food and drink which was appreciated. All in all, brilliant staff and a place Caroline and I would definitely recommend, and stay again if we come back to...