Bayview Hotel

I recently took a trip up the Causeway Coastal Route in Northern Ireland and had the pleasure of staying at The Bayview Hotel in Portballintrae for a night. The hotel was more modern than I would have expected for a quaint N. Irish village, but it was a fantastic place to stay even if I didn’t get my fix of a creaky, Craggy old-​world lodgings.
The hotel sits atop a bluff overlooking the Portballintrae Bay and the surrounding village. it’s a a breathtaking view! We got there on a cloudy afternoon, but by the time we had checked in and walked down to the beach the sun had come out pit play. It was absolutely gorgeous!
The hotel’s nightly rate is pretty sweet considering everything that you get. For £140 a night (total), my boyfriend and I had a king size room overlooking the ocean, we each had a delicious 3-​course dinner in their restaurant, The Porthole, AND a massive breakfast buffet, which included: fresh fruit, yogurts and cereals & a delicious, lip-​smacking hot menu. and yes, you can have both. As you can imagine we did A LOT of eating and drinking while we were there. Check out my review for The Porthole for more on the food.
The Bayview staff were really lovely. I did have trouble understanding them with their thick N. Irish accents, so really, they could have been insulting me the entire time and I wouldn’t have known… but nah, they were gracious and extremely hospitable. If I could rate them alone, I’d definitely give them 5 stars for their customer service!
Our hotel room was clean and spacious and the bathroom even came equipped with a jacuzzi tub! Naturally, I had to try this out, but my only mistake was doing so after an entire bottle of wine and a 3-​course meal. The result was a little sad… I went bright red and came down with dizzy spells and had to sit out on the balcony (it’s early march people!) for 45 minutes until I cooled down. but that was my ditzy mistake. The only fault I’d give the hotel would be the room décor and the bed sheets/​covers. I think they have a couple of refurbished rooms available (they feature these on the website) but our room was a little dated to say the least. The carpet was a faded raspberry color (ick!), the curtains were «early 90’s mod-​chic» and the bedspread was a little iffy… no sign of Egyptian cotton sheets or a down duvet. I swear that I saw a down duvet on the website! But, honestly, for a couple of nights it wasn’t worth worrying about… I still slept like a baby.
If you’re a whiskey fan like myself, there’s another little perk about The Bayview — it’s conveniently close to The Old Bushmills Distillery (1 mile). If you’re hankering for a whisky-​making tour and a few afternoon tipples, it’s all well within your reach.
Overall this is a fantastic little hotel in an idyllic setting. If you find yourself in the northern end of County Antrim, I would highly recommend staying at The Bayview Hotel. It’s situated right near Giants Causeway, The Rope Bridge and Bushmills, so there are more than enough reasons to be passing through.

Ideally, you will need a car if you plan to stay here as it is a wee bit out of the way. Certainly worth it though. Excellent, large and clean rooms. Wonderful breakfast. Great pub food and a super place to meet friendly locals for an evening drink.

wonderful «boutique– style“hotel, recently modernised to a very high standard. Warm and welcoming, which isn’t easy to achieve on a cold October night… the sort of place you want to fall asleep in front of the fire, pint of Guinness in hand!! The bar/​restaurant food is superb… tasty, imaginative and plentiful… you’ll definitely want to come back… dont miss it!