Belvedere House

This isn’t just dinner. It’s therapy. We stayed upstairs in Belvedere House, right above the restaurant, which is perfect because you’ll need a short commute to bed after what Conor serves downstairs. And then? He’s there in the morning making your breakfast like some kind of culinary vigilante who never sleeps. Dinner: The oysters were so fresh they practically apologised for being out of the sea. Rob had the Korean chicken starter and gave it the kind of silent nod usually reserved for baptisms or operatic finales. Every plate was calm, considered, confident. No foam, no smear, no edible petals trying to distract you. Just actual seasonal local food. Seasoned. Balanced. Delivered by staff who know what they’re doing. And then breakfast… That photo doesn’t do it justice. The eggs were perfect. The black pudding didn’t crumble into ash like it does in sad B&Bs. The (home baked) sourdough was crusty enough to fight back. Coffee strong. Mushrooms cooked like someone respects mushrooms. But the real story is Conor. During Covid he built a gorgeous guest patio in the back garden with his bare hands for drinks and craic. He’s there. He’s present. He opens the door, cooks the food, chats to you like an old friend, and makes the whole thing feel personal. Not forced. Not Instagram-ready. Real. His family work with him his daughters are his team. So book it this place is REAL. Eat everything. Leave a tip. And stop pretending Dublin has all the good food — Carlingford’s over here doing it properly. And with heart.

We booked very late in the day into Belvedere House due to a change of plans. Showed up 20 minutes after booking and we were greeted warmly and shown to our room. Basic but clean and basic toiletries provided. We set down our stuff and headed out. In retrospect we should have stayed right where we were for a Michelin award dinner! Upon coming back from another restaurant we went into the bar and had an Irish coffee to cap off the night. The owner was checking to be sure we were looked after and we started a conversation. He couldn’t have been kinder or more fun to have a good craic with! This was despite just finishing a 12 hour shift as one of the four chefs in the kitchen! |The visit with him really made our day and made us feel welcome. He ended up offering, on his own, to switch our room to one that would be quieter towards the back of the hotel, though we hadn’t yet had a difficulty with sound. Very thoughtful. Saw us to our new room himself before he went home for the night. |True service—-you don’t see pride of ownership quite like that very often anymore! Great stay!|Next time we will stay IN for dinner at the Baytree restaurant in the hotel. We blew it there! Thank you Connor!!!|

We booked here as we were going to a wedding in the area||The staff let us collect our key early which was a great help and we were shown to oisin room. It was lovely and clean and very welcoming at the front of the building. Unfortunately this was opposite a bar which was quite noisy and the bin lorry passed by at 5.30am. Despite this the bed was very comfortable and the room had everything we needed||The breakfast spread was lovely. The fresh fruit was gorgeous along with an endless supply of coffee. The waitress was lovely and friendly and made our breakfast a pleasant experience. The cooked breakfast was made fresh to order and I thoroughly enjoyed it. A bonus of homemade sour dough toast was a great addition to our breakfast||I would recommend a visit to carlingford and a stay but be aware of the noise levels at the front if the building

The location was excellent. Staff pleasant and helpful. My room was clean and the bed comfy. The bathroom was decent too. I enjoyed the breakfast and the staff member who served was cheerful and pleasant. It wasn't a boring chain room, it had character. Very honest. I tried booking an Airbnb before this but the owner had kids and expressed a worry at letting strangers into her home. This is above a restaurant & it's no one's home MUCH better. I didn't feel like an errant school kid. It's within a staggar of PJ O Hares, the pub where everyone goes. It's also very near Ghan House if you are attending an event there. As a woman on my own,I felt safe the entire time.I will return, Carlingford is worth another visit as is the Belvedere.

Without doubt easily the worst accommodation experience of my life! Owner and her husband were two of the rudest, obnoxious and arrogant people I have ever met.||My wife and myself checked in at around 2:30pm and were given 2 keys on a rather bulky keyfob. There felt an uncomfortable exchange with the owners husband from the beginning. We remained in the room for around an hour. In terms of the room it is small, outdated with uncomfortable chairs but it did appear clean. Initial impressions were I wouldn't want to stay more than 1 night. We left to attend a friends wedding in another location called Ghan House. We decided to take just one of the two keys rather than both as we didn't need to keys knowing we would return together ater that evening.||We enjoyed the wedding and returned to the accommodation at around 1am. It immediately became apparent that|| there was no staff member serving at the bar or visible through the door or window despite lights being on and we suddenly realised why we were given two keys at arrival. There was an exterior door requiring a different key from our room key which we obviously didn't have because we only took one key.||At this point we felt silly for not taking the other key but annoyed a little that it hadn't been explained there wouldn't be anyone there when we get back later and the importance of the other key. We knocked the door in the hope that the owner lived at the accommodation but no one appeared. We then noticed a list of telephone numbers on the wall outside which looked to be emergency numbers. I phoned the first one which didn't work and then the second one. This was answered by a women who identified herself as the owner and i began to explain we were staying at her accommodation but didn't realise we needed both keys. She began to argue with me and give a rather foul mouthed rant about waking her up and how stupid I was. I was in total disbelief at the way she spoke to me and said she could spend her time arguing with me or she could help me get into the accommodation and at that point she ung up. I then rang the other mobile number again and the owners wife answered. He sounded fed up when I explained what happened and said to me: "You do know it's one o'clock in the morning? You've woken me up and got me out of bed! I apologised but at this stage was getting upset that we were out in the street in the dark in a strange place and getting abuse on the phone by people who should be making you feel welcome. The owners husband then hung up too and we still didn't know what to do? About 10 minutes later a car pulled up and a lady got out, she rather quickly approached me and got right up in my face wagging her finger and began to tell me off like I was a child! A very bizarre situation at 1 o'clock in the morning! I said I'm sorry but I didn't know we needed both keys. Her next comment is one I'll never forget! She screamed at me in a really sarcastic tone: "Oh you didn't know to take the two keys! Well do you need me to tell you then? If you needed to use the toilet do I need to be there to tell you how to drop your trousers and pants in order to take a s**t!" At this point both myself and my wife were in total shock that this was what was actually being said to us. She opened the external door and continued to mock us all the way up the stairs to our room! When we got into the room she quickly left. I suddenly realised I had to phone her husband back to explain she had let us in as it appeared they hadn't spoken to each other and I didn't want him coming out too after his wife had sorted the problem. I rang and his first words were: "So now you've got my wife involved! Why did you ring my wife you had no right to ring her!" he again hung up the phone before I could say a word. It was this point we both decided we couldn't stay in the accommodation after that as he appeared angry as did his wife and in truth we felt very unwelcome and a little afraid.||We exited our room and left a rather derogatory comment in their guest book which in hindsight was childish but fully deserved under the circumstances. Once outside and with nowhere to go it looked like the local park bench was going to be our room for the night until our wedding friends rang and said that their wedding venue Ghan House had a spare room and we could have it. We were extremely grateful and immediately took it. We didn't return to the accommodation the next day and received a phone call from from Booking.Com explaining that the owner of Belvedere House had informed them they were charging us for the key which wasn't returned.||I explained we had no desire to be in the presence of either the owner or her husband ever again as they are the rudest people we ever met and given how quickly they went straight into argument mode we had no desire to get into another conflict. I will be posting back the key although I believe they will still apply a charge as that's the sort of people they appear to be.||All in all I have bee out £99 for Belvedere House that I couldn't stay in, £160 for Ghan House which was worth every penny as the owner there could be described as the complete opposit of what we had experienced in Belvedere House. Plus whatever charges Belvedere House decide they need to get 2 keys cut? My guess about a fiver! An expensive night but in truth the legacy of what happened will be the biggest cost! I hope those considering staying here will think twice after reading about our experience and save themselves a nightmare trip to Carlingford which is a really nice part of Ireland and doesn't deserve to have accommodation owners bringing down the areas friendliness with their gutter attitude.

We’ve now stayed a few times with Connor and Kristina and both of them are warm friendly hospitable and fabulous fun. This time it was Christmas jumpers rather than getting away from the north in July (happy twelfth)||Their guest house is the upstairs to the fantastic Michelin recommended Bay Tree restaurant and we can generally park right outside the complex which is literally in the heart of Carlingford, 1 minute walk from the plethora of fantastic pubs like PJ’s and Ma Bakers etc. ||The accommodation is fabulous, the breakfast is to die for (freshly baked home made sourdough bread and generous portions of full Irish breakfast with aromatic black / white pudding and freshly squeezed juices, and the lively company of Kristina (who is clearly a perfectionist)||Everything is on your doorstep - you’ll never stay in the large hotel, which I won’t name, ever again! (We certainly won’t)||Obviously the jewel in the crown is the restaurant which is never over priced (a headline bottle of wine is cheaper there than in many of the local pubs) and the standard of fayre with Connor at the helm is a guaranteed first class. Their reviews and accolades tell you this I don’t need to ...||We will be back repeatedly. 50 miles out of Belfast but a world away... Thank you for a fantastic weekend break in the true heart of beautiful Carlingford :)

The owner/chef is rude, obnoxious and pig ignorant. Stayed here in September 2019. Could not check in till gone 8pm due to the fact the owner and his wife had been away, without making proper provision for bookings . He was rude about the fact my wife did not come down for breakfast, which as a paying guest is her right. Typical chef, arrogant and refuses to admit he's wrong. Having been in the hospitality trade all my life, I know how to treat customers.

Were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the rooms based on what we paid. Tastefully furnished and our rooms was bigger than expected.||Very central location in this busy little place, care there is only street parking, but it was not a problem.||We did eat in the restaurant The Bay Tree . Yes it’s the same place. Great seafood, our meal was outstanding. ||A very enjoyable stay.||