Cool Place of the Day: George Best House, Belfast

Every day, a new place to discover or explore from coolplaces.co.uk

George Best House, Belfast

There's a local saying that goes something like this, "Maradona great, Pele better, George best!" Many believe, and not just those from Northern Ireland, that George Best was the world's greatest footballer, and what better day to celebrate that fact, than on his birthday, 22 May?

Best hailed from East Belfast where his family first took up residence at 16 Burren Way in 1949; the Best family was the first to move into the new Cregagh Estate, and this is where they stayed until his Dad died in 2008, three years after George himself. George spent his childhood kicking a football around Burren Way before leaving for Manchester United in his teens. He returned to the family home often and requested that his body leave from the house when he died.

In 2011 Landmark East purchased the house and after extensive renovations, visitors can now stay in George's old home. His boyhood bedroom has been preserved as a 1950s time capsule and the house is crammed with memorabilia, from football kits and books to DVDs of his greatest footballing moments. Any money raised from the project is channelled back into the local community, preserving the East Belfast legacy and helping the residents of the Cregagh Estate. It's a wonderful opportunity to hop into George's bed for a night or two and to eat breakfast at the kitchen table, just as he would have done decades earlier.

Cool Places is a new website from the creators of Rough Guides and Cool Camping, suggesting the best places to stay, eat, drink and shop in Britain (coolplaces.co.uk)