One of Northern Ireland's fanciest hotels, the Culloden Estate and Spa is a sprawling country house that attracts both celebrities and hen parties alike, with a body-beautiful spa proving a unique selling point. India Dowley reports

LOCATION

The Culloden sits on a hillside above Belfast Lough, folded into 12 acres of gardens and woodland that feel improbably private given the city is 15 minutes away. Trains slide into Cultra station somewhere below; inside the gates it’s clipped lawns, birdsong and flashes of water between the trees. Once the Bishop of Down’s palace, it’s now one of Northern Ireland’s best-known five-stars, drawing international travellers, locals marking milestones and day visitors who come purely for the spa.

ETHOS

The hotel leans into its history without the starch. Yes, the gothic exterior sets a tone, but inside it’s more about art, good food and a spa with a loyal following. The atmosphere is wholesome and relaxed; staff actively reassure guests that crossing the drawing room in a gown and slippers en route to the wellness centre is perfectly normal, grand piano and gilt frames notwithstanding. Mornings stretch out, the lough catches the light and the pub warms up with live music as the day fades.

GUEST PERSONAS

Spa regulars, low-key hens, couples celebrating something big, business travellers wanting distance from the city without fully leaving it behind. Families appear for weddings and birthdays, but the energy skews grown-up leisure. Van Morrison orders his pints at the Cultra Inn; Hugh Grant and Kerry Washington have checked in. You get the picture.

INTERIOR DESIGN

High ceilings, wood panelling, tall windows framing slices of lough. The tower suites are genuinely theatrical – double-height rooms that feel closer to film sets than standard suites. Oil paintings, a piano that actually gets played, thick carpets and curtains with a bit of drama. Elsewhere it softens, but stays substantial: cloud-level beds, a few Warhols and contemporary Irish pieces in the sculpture garden to keep it from tipping into heritage pastiche.

ROOMS

There are 98 rooms in total. Garden rooms at entry level are compact. Estate rooms carry more of the original house character – solid doors, decent proportions, higher ceilings in some. Bathrooms are the standout: deep tubs, walk-in showers, grey-and-white marble everywhere and underfloor heating that does its job. Suites come with oversized windows looking out over the lough. If you can, get a water view – the whole room shifts as the light does.

DINING

Three options, three moods. Vespers does oak-panelled indulgence with Irish produce – Glenarm salmon, local lamb, bread that arrives crusty and warm. The Lough Bar is for afternoon tea or watching the sun dip behind the water. And the Cultra Inn, a stroll across the lawn, serves pints and burgers alongside locals who've been coming for decades. It’s one of the few hotel restaurants that doesn’t feel like a hotel restaurant.

WELLNESS FACILITIES

Most people come for the ESPA spa. There’s a glass-walled vitality pool facing the gardens, a Tylarium that merges sauna and steam into one hazy space and treatments that range from elbows-in deep tissue to facials that reset your whole week. Crucially, it feels integral to the place rather than tacked on – the kind of spa that dictates your booking, not the other way around.

SERVICE

Fast, unfussy, quietly attentive. Staff remember names, keep things moving and avoid the over-rehearsed polish. Taxi bookings appear before you’ve asked twice; breakfast can land in your room; someone clocks that you asked for extra towels yesterday and just sorts it.

VERDICT

Culloden isn’t trying to reinvent the country-house hotel. It doesn’t need to. It’s a confident five-star with a serious spa, well-executed dining and a settled pace that makes two nights feel too short. Established, comfortable, quietly luxurious – it’s a place that knows exactly what it is and does it well.

PRICE

Rooms cost upwards of £240 per night.