The Drawing Room HourNotebook No 77November 2025
The view from the twenty-third floor, after the city goes quiet.
Collected by Deborah. Read her editorial perspective
We often settle at the Grand Central’s twenty-third-floor Observatory bar. From this elevation, Belfast quiets after ten on a Sunday, the city expanding silently below us. On clear days, the outlines of the Mourne Mountains distinguish themselves on the horizon.
Adare
For those journeying to the Causeway Coast, we consider this hotel an excellent starting point. You can easily travel north in the mornings for your daily explorations, returning to the city for dinner and its evening tempo. When you make your reservation, request a high room looking out toward the harbor.
This is where you should stay for a trip combining Belfast and the coastline.
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The Ireland Edit Way
Cut the itinerary in half, then cut it again. The letter we send before every first visit.
Every hotel change costs you half a day. Luxury, in Ireland, is staying put.
Six questions we apply before booking any room in Ireland. The November test, the dinner-twice test, the landscape-over-room test.
To understand Ireland, stop looking at the castles and start looking at the kitchen table.
From the notebook
Collected notes. A few times each season.