Latest news with #PortrushAdelphi
National Post
29-07-2025
- National Post
Where to stay near the best golf courses in Scotland and Ireland
If you're the kind of golfer who has a bucket list, then experiencing the sport's first — and probably still most thrilling — courses in Scotland and Ireland, where the game was born, is somewhere near the top. But until recently, a trip like that meant staying in accommodations that didn't always match their spectacular settings. Article content The typical 'cozy' inns you'd find had few, if any, memorable features and little approaching luxury amenities. Most rooms were small and either too drafty or too stuffy. Water vacillated between scalding and suitable for a cold plunge and required an engineer's precision to dial in to the right temperature — that was if you were able to navigate the dual faucet setup. Televisions the size of a cinder block (and offering about as many channels) were tucked high into the corner of the rooms and the en suite bathroom lacked a shower. Food was an afterthought at best. Article content But all this mattered little when you found yourself delighting in a round at Brora in the Scottish Highlands or at Royal County Down in Northern Ireland. In fact, when the late billionaire Julian Robertson set out to build Kauri Cliffs, his oceanside dream course in New Zealand, his own experience traveling to the storied courses in Great Britain and Ireland led him to conclude that great lodging wasn't part of the calculus for a great golf trip. Article content Article content That is until his wife intervened. Article content It may be a common assumption that golf and luxury hotels go hand-in-hand, but on these windswept islands where golf took root, this wasn't always the case. In its ancestral home, the game is more egalitarian and democratic than it is in the US or, say, the Caribbean. But that's started to change as local courses try to capture all the rich Americans traveling abroad. Article content As Robertson's wife Josie wisely observed, golf trips have grown up, and people want hotels that match their budget and expectations. It's not just better sleeping quarters they crave; it's better food and service too. One hotel brand that's positioned itself to take advantage of this sea change is Marine &Lawn, which opened in 2021 with two hotels and now has six locations, including their newest property, Portrush Adelphi. All their hotels have a golf bent and are strategically positioned near some of the game's most coveted outposts. The North Berwick Golf Club, for instance, was until recently known only to the most astute golfers when the Marine & Lawn hotel there opened, and Dornoch Station, their hotel near Royal Dornoch, positions guests near one of the game's most architecturally interesting courses in a breathtaking setting. Article content Article content Adelphi, like other Marine & Lawn properties, leans on the golf heritage of its local course: a clubby atmosphere, with rich, dark hues on the walls, carpets and furniture. The property, as well as its sister hotels, feels less like a hotel and more like a curated home passed down through the generations, despite having opened this Aprilin time for this year's Open Championship, one of professional golf's four major tournaments. Its Red Sail Room Bar & Restaurant features fresh seafood and a Mediterranean-inspired menu along with plenty of red meat and fine whiskey. Rates start at £241 (US$283)/night. Article content But Marine & Lawn isn't the only new kid on the block. If you want to play on some of the world's best golf courses in the game's ancient home, you now have more options than ever that are charming, comfortable and even glamorous. Just don't get so comfortable that you miss your tee time.
Irish Independent
16-05-2025
- Climate
- Irish Independent
A postcard from ‘The Port' – why Portrush is ‘the little town that's got it all going on'
Prepared for all eventualities, from frostbite to heatstroke, and who could blame her, with our notoriously bipolar climate. As it turned out, there was little need for the woolly clothing on this balmy bank holiday Monday. It was not long after 11am — no such thing as too early for a pint, this is drinking weather after all — and I was propped at one of the big barrels out the front of one of my favourite pubs in Portrush, longing for a second night in the north coast party town as opposed to heading shortly for the 2pm train home. Well it used to be a party town anyhow, back in my heyday aeons ago when Kelly's and Trax were still a thing... But these days, it's back to what I suppose Portrush has always been, either side of the rise and fall of those big, brash nightclubs during the hedonistic Nineties. And what it's always been is Northern Ireland's quintessential seaside resort; all higgledy-piggledy holiday lets, apartments and B&Bs, painted in multi-colours, jostling alongside hotels and ice cream parlours, gift shops, cafes and coffee kiosks, juice bars, burger joints, pizzerias and chippies and surf stores. In the week before the North West 200, 'The Port' was buzzing as upwards of 200,000 fans descended on 'The Triangle' for one of road racing's most hallowed spectacles. But bathed in warm spring sunshine under unblemished blue skies, it was especially so down around Portrush's gorgeous West Bay last week, with locals, holidaymakers, petrolheads, deep-pocketed Yanks, blow-ins like me and everyone in between soaking up the atmosphere in this little town that's got it all going on. Outside of Belfast, there can't be many places boasting as many bars, restaurants and other assorted centres of entertainment to keep idle minds out of mischief. In fact, I think I have the answer to part of that question. Someone in the know once told me that when it comes to provincial towns and villages, nearby Ballycastle has the most pubs per capita. ADVERTISEMENT That may well be so, and Ballycastle is a wee gem in its own right, but the Port's food and drink scene surely dwarfs that of any of its tourism rivals up on Northern Ireland's resplendent north coast. And the laws of the free market dictate that intense competition drives up quality while simultaneously keeping a lid on prices. I'm not so sure about that second bit anymore, but certainly there's a plentiful supply of places serving up fresh, imaginative, skilful plates of food. And the new Portrush Adelphi — opened just a couple of weeks — has taken its place among that cohort. The 'first journalist through the doors', I'm told, I spent a Sunday up there as a guest of Marine & Lawn, the hospitality brand behind what is their sixth hotel venture in the UK, and their second on these shores after the Slieve Donard in Newcastle was snapped up three years ago. And as any scratch handicapper or fairway hacker might by now have guessed, with Newcastle and Portrush added to a collection which includes Troon and St Andrews — the cradle of golf itself no less — the group is after a slice of the golf tourism pie, putting down roots in some of the game's most storied destinations. So of course it's no coincidence that the doors to this 34-room hotel opened on the eve of the Royal and Ancient's return to Portrush for the 153rd Open Championship in July. Indeed, the greenback looms large here, with moneyed middle-class Americans the prize catch. And not only are they here for the golf, the Guinness and the grub, but they're ready to shell out big on real estate too. It's a double-edged sword, boosting the local economy while artificially inflating the property market and driving house prices beyond the reach of those who live here year-round. Good luck in finding a des res in Portrush for less than £400,000. Inside the hotel itself, there are a few nods here and there to the game, including golf club-shaped door handles in the Red Sail Room restaurant. But for the most part, the vibe is a blend of modern and traditional, where classic and contemporary somehow co-exist. Far from the airy, bright and minimalist styles of many new hotels these days, instead the Portrush Adelphi goes for dark and cosy — lots of deep greens and browns and blues. A homage, the designers say, to the colour palette of the north coast countryside. In the lobby, guests are greeted by rich mahogany herringbone floors, columns that reminded me of Ancient Rome, and an open fire that hissed, crackled and popped even as the sun beat down outside. And that warm, homely theme is carried on into the bedrooms, all tartan upholstery and cable knit throws, moody blues and greens. A colour scheme of land and sea. As pleasant as all that is, the hotel's two biggest assets as far as I can tell are the staff and the food. The former were a delight, Declan and his young team of whipper-snappers, despite being rushed off their feet. A flurry of hotel openings up here has left them short-staffed; everyone is vying for the same small pool of hospitality workers, a situation not helped by the impending arrival of The Marcus by Hilton a few doors down, with another 80 jobs needed there. Everything takes that little bit longer to arrive then, but that's okay, I'm happy to cut them some slack, as the Americans on the table next to me might say — and besides, when the food arrives, it is worth the wait. There's lovely bruschetta to start; crunchy salty toasted sourdough drizzled with garlic-infused oil, topped with San Marzano tomatoes and garnished with thyme and basil. There's a fabulous carved fillet steak pizzaiola on a bed of rich tomato and garlic sauce, plus a side of pan-fried Tuscan rosemary and lemon potatoes. There's a big slab of lasagne al forno for madam across the table, the clumsiness of my description doing an injustice to what was one of the finest examples of this Italian classic I've ever sampled. And then there was sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream — a totally-uncalled-for, shamefully gluttonous end to what was an excellent feed. All that's left then, that evening and the following day, is to go and explore all that Portrush has to offer. And there's no shortage of things to do. You might think a game of beach volleyball is more Copacabana than Co Antrim, but you'd be wrong. Down on the Portrush's stunning East Strand — 1.6 miles of golden sands looking out to The Skerries and the Causeway headlands, and incorporating the famous sand dunes of Royal Portrush links — barefooted players in shorts and T-shirts battle it out. On the other side of the town, down on the harbour, there's paddle-boarding, while on the beach, the deck chairs and towels are out if a simple bout of sun-worshipping is your thing. And of course, there's endless oceans of blue if you're hardy enough to brave the Atlantic. Just don't forget your bathing costume... hat and scarf. Get there Rates at the Portrush Adelphi begin at £245, subject to availability, and include full Irish breakfast. All rooms are pet-friendly. Maxie was a guest of Marine & Lawn;
