24-Hour Room Service: Fitzwilliam, Belfast, Northern Ireland

As Billy Scott – a taxi driver who took me on a tour of Belfast – sees it, the city is on the up. Recent regeneration projects, such as the city's Cathedral and Titanic quarter, are helping to create an upbeat local outlook.

Even the recession isn't all bad news north of the border, apparently. "We're getting so many visitors from the euro-zone Republic that they say many of the shops here can't stock their shelves quickly enough to keep up with demand."

This must be reassuring news for the owner of Belfast's latest high-end hotel, the Fitzwilliam. Certainly when I visited business was pretty swift. Its 130 rooms, dramatic black, grey and gold lobby and slightly less atmospheric bar were buzzing with sophisticated out-of-towners treating themselves to a weekend of urban luxury.

The restaurant is run by Michelin-starred chef, Kevin Thornton. Its name – Menu – may be uninspiring, but the food definitely isn't, with unpretentious dishes such as beetroot, grapefruit and walnut salad, and tuna served with soy and ginger-laced fennel. Even the breakfasts are a step up from the norm; the oatmeal with banana and honey is just the thing to set you up for a day exploring Belfast's sights.

LOCATION

Fitzwilliam Hotel, Great Victoria Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT2 7BQ (028 9031 1588; fitzwilliamhotelbelfast.com). The hotel is in the city centre, next to the Grand Opera House and across the road from the National Trust-owned Crown Bar. It is five minutes' walk from Belfast City Hall.

Time from international airport: 20 minutes' drive from Belfast international airport at Aldergrove (£25 by taxi or £7 by bus) or 10 minutes' drive from George Best Belfast City (£10 by taxi or £1.50 by bus). To central Belfast, ferries sail from Stranraer and Liverpool. Larne, 30 minutes' drive from the city centre away, also has sailings from Troon, Cairnryan and Fleetwood.

COMFORTABLE?

Run by the company behind Dublin's well-established Fitzwilliam Hotel, this may be the youngest in a growing line of luxury hotels to open in Belfast but there's an experienced team at the helm.

The interiors were designed by London-based Project Orange. They are more glamorous than the hotel's rather lacklustre website suggests, with dark walnut and lime green colour schemes in all but the penthouse suite (which is flecked with grape and turquoise). In some rooms, floor-to-ceiling windows look out across the city to the surrounding hills.

The objective was to create the ambience of a contemporary manor house. The devil is in the detail – long, elegant lampshades suspended by twisted green cords, black retro phones and Bridget Riley prints that are mirrored in the shimmering black and white-tiled bathrooms. Not just a case of style over substance, the bathrooms have been sensibly designed to minimise energy waste.

Freebies: a morning newspaper, Voss mineral water and a not-terribly-exciting range of toiletries come as standard. Disappointingly, there are sachets of milk and instant coffee rather than the real thing.

Keeping in touch: there's free Wi-Fi in all the rooms, as well as digital TV (channels include CNN and Film4) and digital radios/CD players.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Double rooms start at £110, room only. Breakfast costs from £14 per person.

I'm not paying that: the Premier Inn, in an excellent Cathedral Quarter location, has doubles from £70, room only (2-6 Waring Street, 0870 423 6492; premierinn.com).

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