FAO N.I Hibbys

[broonieboy]

Anybody able to recommend some hotels in Ballymena. I'm over for a wedding on July 17th so trying to get booked now.
I'm flying into City airport, whats the best option for getting to ballymena?
Thanks in advance for any help.

[buckie]

the two main hotels in Ballymena are the Galgorm Manor outiside the town and the Adair Arms in the town centre.

Hotels Ballymena, Hotels Northern Ireland, Spas Northern Ireland - Galgorm Resort & Spa

Hotels in Ballymena Co Antrim - The Adair Arms Hotel in Ballymena - Accommodation, Conferences and Weddings - Welcome

there may be other smaller hotels and b&b's as im not that familiar with the area.

Belfast International Airport is close to Ballymena, Belfast City Airport is not, if you could fly to the International instead your only a short taxi ride away.

from Belfast City you will have to get a bus or taxi to Europa Bus/Train station and get either to Ballymena.

It shouldnt be expensive and it will take 30/45 mins from Europa Buscentre.

[Northern Ireland Hibby]

Originally Posted by buckie

the two main hotels in Ballymena are the Galgorm Manor outiside the town and the Adair Arms in the town centre.

Hotels Ballymena, Hotels Northern Ireland, Spas Northern Ireland - Galgorm Resort & Spa

Hotels in Ballymena Co Antrim - The Adair Arms Hotel in Ballymena - Accommodation, Conferences and Weddings - Welcome

there may be other smaller hotels and b&b's as im not that familiar with the area.

Belfast International Airport is close to Ballymena, Belfast City Airport is not, if you could fly to the International instead your only a short taxi ride away.

from Belfast City you will have to get a bus or taxi to Europa Bus/Train station and get either to Ballymena.

It shouldnt be expensive and it will take 30/45 mins from Europa Buscentre.

Where's the wedding?

The Galgorm Manor place is a big, over-rated and over-priced joint in the arse end of nowhere. Popular for weddings but I wouldn't recommend it.

The Adair Arms is an old-fasioned hotel in the middle of town. Above average in terms of quality, and has a bit of charcter (and MUCH better service) than the Galgorm place.

The Leighinmohr Hotel is on the edge of town and is decent enough.

I'd go for the Adair Arms.

Like the man said, bus/taxi into Belfast from city airport and then bus/train to Ballymena. The Leighinmohr hotel and Adair Arms are both within walking distance of the train and bus station.

If you drop me a line nearer the time (hibbyni@yahoo.com) I'll see if any of the NI Hibs mob are going your way and could give you a lift - I go to Ballymena every week or two.

[Loki_Sproule]

Hasn't the Adair Arms been decommissioned?

*coat*

[Northern Ireland Hibby]

Originally Posted by Loki_Sproule

Hasn't the Adair Arms been decommissioned?

*coat*

I'm not sure.

But I did once have my weapon inspected there

[buckie]

Originally Posted by Loki_Sproule

Hasn't the Adair Arms been decommissioned?

*coat*

thats Johnny Adair your thinking of, the Adair arms is still there passed by it the other week for no particular reason.

[Northern Ireland Hibby]

Originally Posted by buckie

thats Johnny Adair your thinking of, the Adair arms is still there passed by it the other week for no particular reason.

It's named after the spectatularly named historic, landed gentry-type Shafto Adair

Sounds like a bit of a swordsman. Maybe that's why he needed a hotel

[Loki_Sproule]

Crap joke. Acknowledged.

*coat, gloves, scarf, beret and cravat fetched. Taxi called*

[broonieboy]

Cheers guys. The wedding is at the Galgorm place, but its 145 bones for one night so they can GTF. I've looked at the adair so prob go for that.

Looking forward to it, having been to Belfast and Ballymena before i've always enjoyed myself over in your neck of the woods. May even wear Hibs tartan, seeing as the groom is a yam!!!

[Loki_Sproule]

Originally Posted by broonieboy

Cheers guys. The wedding is at the Galgorm place, but its 145 bones for one night so they can GTF. I've looked at the adair so prob go for that.

Looking forward to it, having been to Belfast and Ballymena before i've always enjoyed myself over in your neck of the woods. May even wear Hibs tartan, seeing as the groom is a yam!!!

I'd go as far as to thoroughly recommend doing so to wind up said Yam

[Northern Ireland Hibby]

Originally Posted by broonieboy

Cheers guys. The wedding is at the Galgorm place, but its 145 bones for one night so they can GTF. I've looked at the adair so prob go for that.

Looking forward to it, having been to Belfast and Ballymena before i've always enjoyed myself over in your neck of the woods. May even wear Hibs tartan, seeing as the groom is a yam!!!

£145!!!!! Shite service, kiddie staff, Belfast city centre prices (despite the fact that the place is miles from anywhere), soul-less, no atmosphere and stuck-up punters. They're taking the piss. I'm not sure about the pints there, but any I've had in places run by the same owners have been bogin'.

The Adair Arms will do nicely. There's a taxi office just up the road (Sharp Taxis) for getting to the wedding and you're within walking distance of a few decent boozers if you have time: Slemish Bar and The Cabin (one's a big-ish locals bar and the other is an 'old man' type traditional bar), The Blackstone is a good choice for the weekend if there are a few of you or if someone doesn't like old-fashioned bars. The two former bars are on William Street and the latter is off Thomas Street). The Grouse, Springwell Street/Ballymoney St is a big but soul-less wannabe George Street-type bar.

Give every other bar in the town a miss and be cautious dandering about in the south end of the town late at night. Ballymena is a mixed town but there are a few headcases about so the usual NI rule applies (and I don't mean to be patronising), ie I would keep your views about politics, football and religion (many NI folk think they are one and the same thing) to yourself unless you know the company you are with.

For food, The Adair Arms is as good as anywhere else as there aren't many decent eating places in Ballymena. The chinese near the Adair Arms (Water Margin, I think) isn't bad either. It's a pretty good town for shopping if you need to bring the missus something back to keep the peace!

Mind and give me a shout nearer the time and we'll see if we can help with lifts etc.

[buckie]

Originally Posted by Northern Ireland Hibby

£145!!!!! Shite service, kiddie staff, Belfast city centre prices (despite the fact that the place is miles from anywhere), soul-less, no atmosphere and stuck-up punters. They're taking the piss. I'm not sure about the pints there, but any I've had in places run by the same owners have been bogin'.

The Adair Arms will do nicely. There's a taxi office just up the road (Sharp Taxis) for getting to the wedding and you're within walking distance of a few decent boozers if you have time: Slemish Bar and The Cabin (one's a big-ish locals bar and the other is an 'old man' type traditional bar), The Blackstone is a good choice for the weekend if there are a few of you or if someone doesn't like old-fashioned bars. The two former bars are on William Street and the latter is off Thomas Street). The Grouse, Springwell Street/Ballymoney St is a big but soul-less wannabe George Street-type bar.

Give every other bar in the town a miss and be cautious dandering about in the south end of the town late at night. Ballymena is a mixed town but there are a few headcases about so the usual NI rule applies (and I don't mean to be patronising), ie I would keep your views about politics, football and religion (many NI folk think they are one and the same thing) to yourself unless you know the company you are with.

For food, The Adair Arms is as good as anywhere else as there aren't many decent eating places in Ballymena. The chinese near the Adair Arms (Water Margin, I think) isn't bad either. It's a pretty good town for shopping if you need to bring the missus something back to keep the peace!

Mind and give me a shout nearer the time and we'll see if we can help with lifts etc.

is the Water Margin not in Coleraine?

or is there one in Ballymena too?

[Northern Ireland Hibby]

Originally Posted by buckie

is the Water Margin not in Coleraine?

or is there one in Ballymena too?

There's one in Belfast as well - not sure if they are all owned by the same person or not.

[buckie]

Originally Posted by Northern Ireland Hibby

There's one in Belfast as well - not sure if they are all owned by the same person or not.

yeah theres one on Donegall Pass and the same people own it and the one in Coleraine and i would guess the one i didnt know about in Ballymena also.

[Northern Ireland Hibby]

Originally Posted by buckie

yeah theres one on Donegall Pass and the same people own it and the one in Coleraine and i would guess the one i didnt know about in Ballymena also.

The one in the Pass wasn't great last time I was there - but the Sun Kee is always first class.

[broonieboy]

Originally Posted by Northern Ireland Hibby

£145!!!!! Shite service, kiddie staff, Belfast city centre prices (despite the fact that the place is miles from anywhere), soul-less, no atmosphere and stuck-up punters. They're taking the piss. I'm not sure about the pints there, but any I've had in places run by the same owners have been bogin'.

The Adair Arms will do nicely. There's a taxi office just up the road (Sharp Taxis) for getting to the wedding and you're within walking distance of a few decent boozers if you have time: Slemish Bar and The Cabin (one's a big-ish locals bar and the other is an 'old man' type traditional bar), The Blackstone is a good choice for the weekend if there are a few of you or if someone doesn't like old-fashioned bars. The two former bars are on William Street and the latter is off Thomas Street). The Grouse, Springwell Street/Ballymoney St is a big but soul-less wannabe George Street-type bar.

Give every other bar in the town a miss and be cautious dandering about in the south end of the town late at night. Ballymena is a mixed town but there are a few headcases about so the usual NI rule applies (and I don't mean to be patronising), ie I would keep your views about politics, football and religion (many NI folk think they are one and the same thing) to yourself unless you know the company you are with.
For food, The Adair Arms is as good as anywhere else as there aren't many decent eating places in Ballymena. The chinese near the Adair Arms (Water Margin, I think) isn't bad either. It's a pretty good town for shopping if you need to bring the missus something back to keep the peace!

Mind and give me a shout nearer the time and we'll see if we can help with lifts etc.

Cheers for the advice, with 4 trips to NI for egg chasing/bevvying, the bit in bold has generally been my approach in the past.

[Northern Ireland Hibby]

Originally Posted by broonieboy

Cheers for the advice, with 4 trips to NI for egg chasing/bevvying, the bit in bold has generally been my approach in the past.

Cheers - apologies for the patronising advice