Take a chic city break in Belfast

It's had a chequered history but if I had to sum up Belfast in one word, that word would be ‘welcoming'. Arriving at the main bus station on a rainy Sunday afternoon with my mother, we ask a taxi to take us to the Fitzwilliam Hotel, a new boutique hotel that opened in March. The taxi driver laughs and drives us 100 feet down the road to its entrance. He doesn't charge us. It's a lovely welcome to Belfast and sets the tone for our visit.

This positive welcoming vibe is quite amazing in a city that has suffered so much. But it's easy to remember Belfast only as a war zone. Easy and wrong. Because once upon a time this city was the jewel in the crown of the industrialist British Empire and one of the leading cities of the Victorian age.

Around the beautiful Botanic Gardens are prime examples of the best of the era's architecture; Belfast made its name as a leading world producer of linen in the 18th century and the Harland and Wolff shipyard was the largest in the world in the 19th, boasting the world's largest dry dock. It was from this dry dock that the RMS Titanic was launched in the early years of the 20th century; Belfast's history is frequently lump-in-the-throat stuff.

Touring the city

We visit the huge shipyard on a bus tour the next day, (thankfully it's stopped raining, in fact it's a gorgeous day with bright sunshine and everybody in short sleeves). Now the Titanic quarter, as it has become known, is a thriving area of regeneration. In fact we can't actually drive along one of the roads leading to the huge shipyard warehouses - they've been turned into film sets and a big Hollywood film is currently in production inside. But we manage to detour by the dry dock and I take a photo for my brother - a collector of all things Titanic.

A bus tour is definitely the best way to see the city, and we're lucky enough to have the most informed, and possibly interesting, man in Belfast as our guide on the City Sightseeing tour (www.belfastcitysightseeing.com; £12.50 adult, £5 child; all-day hop on/hop off ticket). Belfast sits in a valley ringed by hills, so the views are good no matter which way you look - and the city is surprisingly compact, despite the fact it's Ireland's second largest.

The Falls and Shankhill

Much of the fighting during the Troubles, from the late 1960s to the 90s, took place between the Republican stronghold the Falls Road and Unionist Shankhill, the areas still divided today by a ‘peace line' - a towering barrier, topped with barbed wire, decorated with the striking wall murals Belfast has become famous for. Its gates still close at night but cross-community groups are hard at work to change this. Union Jacks and bunting flutter along the Shankhill, while the tricolour of the Irish Republic signifies you have crossed the peace line.

We drive along and take photos of the wall murals - somehow this feels a bit odd as people go about their daily business on the streets outside, but nobody seems to mind.

Belfast murals

Not all of the murals are political; some of Belfast's famous children - George Best, CS Lewis, The Undertones - are immortalised here too. (George Best also has an airport named after him, one of the closest to a city anywhere in the world, you could almost walk downtown from the luggage belt.) Other former residents include Van Morrison, the city's grumpiest son, who complained that a small brass plaque fixed to the wall of his early home in Hyndford St was ‘an invasion of privacy'.

On our return to the city from green and leafy Stormont, where the Northern Ireland parliament now sits, we pass the Europa, which once held the dubious distinction of being the most bombed hotel in Europe - mainly due to the fact that most of the foreign journalists stayed there, so a bomb was sure to get international coverage.

Fitzwilliam Hotel

But we're staying next door, in the über-stylish Fitzwilliam, more evidence of the city's regeneration. Right in the heart of the city (and obviously very close to the bus station!), it's perfectly placed for a chic weekend break. Home to the cutting-edge restaurant ‘Menu', by Michelin-starred celebrity chef Kevin Thornton, the bar also attracts the local glitterati, who obviously like their drinks posh - over 65% of the bar's take is from cocktails. (Mojitos are the most popular in case you were wondering.)They also serve a very tasty bar menu all day.

Yes, it's another boutique hotel but what sets it apart is this: the mix of style and personality, from the foyer with its blend of contemporary furniture alongside cosy armchairs and stacked bookcases, to the nicely equipped bedrooms where CD players, large plasma TV screens, bathrobes, slippers, and complimentary morning newspapers all come as standard. And nothing gives it so much personality as the friendliness of the staff. Like Fergal the concierge who is delighted to oblige with information about everything from city tours to art to restaurants, and even offers to escort myself and my mother across the road to help us board the sightseeing bus (which has a convenient stop outside).

And at dinner in ‘Menu' that night, Anthony proves to be one of the best waiters I've ever met - friendly and extremely helpful - and we have a great chat about wine. The food is good, using local produce as far as possible - the meat and seafood we ate were all natives, and the divine bread (multi-seed, tomato and curry!) is all made by the pastry chef, a man who would be a great catch for any woman. Prices are very good for this standard, starters from £5.50 to £8, mains from £14, £3.50 for sides, and most wines available by the glass.

There are 130 rooms in total, six penthouse studios and one penthouse with a 24-hour butler and limousine service. It's a great find in the centre of Belfast, and Belfast is one of those cities you really should see. Go prepared to chat to friendly strangers, and be the better for it.

Find out more

In autumn 2009, the Fitzwilliam Hotel, Great Victoria St, Belfast, is offering special rates from £159 per room based on two sharing. This includes overnight accommodation, a three-course evening meal in Menu by Kevin Thornton and a full Fitzwilliam breakfast. All rates are subject to availability. To make a booking phone 028 9044 2080; email enq@fitzwilliamhotelbelfast.com, or visit www.fitzwilliamhotelbelfast.com

Getting there

Bus Eireann provides a frequent daily service to Belfast from all over Ireland. For further information, timetables and booking visit www.buseireann.ie; there's also a regular train service from Dublin; Aer Lingus, EasyJet, Ryanair and bmi all offer daily flights to the city, Belfast has two airports - the George Best City Airport and Belfast International Airport, located 29km from the city.

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