Name: The Downshire Hotel
Address: 14 Main Street DG9 8JJ Portpatrick,Main Street, Stranraer, Stranraer, Stranraer, DG9 8JJ, United Kingdom
Rating: 7

Smoke-free property

Heating

General

Non-smoking rooms

Family room

Flat-screen TV

Wardrobe/Closet

Linens

Rooms

Iron and board

Ironing

Laundry

Services and amenities

Kettle

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Billiards

Karaoke

Fishing

Recreation

Parking

Free parking nearby

Free Parking on Premises

Beach/pool towels

Next to the beach

Pool and beach

Fax and copy machine

Business

Darts

Sports

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Pets allowed

Pets

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Dunskey Garden

George Best Belfast City Airport

The Downshire Hotel

Stranraer

My wife and I,and two friends visited visited on two occasions,while staying in the village,we were made to feel very welcome on both occasions by the staff and the locals,we will definitely visit again,on our next visit to Portpatrick,Thank you

GREAT LOCAL PUB

Called into the Downshire bar in Portpatrick with my partner for a few drinks while staying in the area , seemed to be a bar mostly for the locals which we found to be very friendly with a welcoming atmosphere. There was a well stocked bar and the pints were smashing 🍺, will return while in the area again.

Friendly local 🍺

Went with a mate to watch the Scotland game and was shocked to see that apart from the bar staff we were the only people wearing a mask. It was mobbed.
It’s called a sports bar but staff didn’t know that a game was on or what channel.
I had to ask the barman to top up my pint as apparently they don’t know how much a pint is.
The toilet was like something you would see in a prison movie. No seat just a stainless steel toilet. No soap or towels and the door leading to the urinals wedged open.
To put the icing on the cake a band started playing at 9.30 while the game was still on. “Sports bar”
There are a couple of decent pubs in Portpatrick. This isn’t one of them.
Do yourself a favour and avoid like the plague.

Horrendous

Having walked out of Portpatrick hotel we came upon these stunning self catering houses. 2 bedroom, spotless, warm, in the Main Street seconds from the harbour and wonderful service.  Worth every penny. Can of recommend highly enough.

Incredible

This was a less than pleasant experience, but lets start with the positives. The breakfast was reasonably nice (although not very warm) and the dining room fairly well decorated. Also, our en-suite bathroom had been recently redecorated. Okay, that's the positives over.

This hotel is in serious need of refurbishment work and there are several aspects which the Health & Safety Executive and the Scottish Tourism authorities need to examine closely. I intend to be in touch with both of these bodies regarding this property.

When you enter the reception area, initial impressions are reasonably good. But as you climb the extremely steep spiral staircase you begin to see the problems/ The windows on the stairwell are screwed shut (as are the bedroom windows) which I'm sure must contravene fire regulations. On  top of that, the windows were filthy and had obviously not been cleaned in some time. The carpet on the first floor landing is severely stained/bleached/ worn and this continues up the second flight of stairs. There is also no wall banister on the second flight and at night there is no lighting. I had to lead my elderly father up a narrow spiral staircase by torchlight at night!!

If you manage to reach the second floor landing safely you find a fire door (which should be closed at all times) held open by a fire extinguisher. There was also no working light in the corridor outside our door. There was a light fitting but there were wires hanging out of it and no bulb.

There are numerous areas on the stairwell, landings and in rooms where wallpaper is coming away from the walls and ceiling. Our room looked clean enough on the surface but after I dropped something on the floor, I glanced under the bed and could see it clearly not been hoovered in some weeks/months.

As mentioned, the bathroom had recently been redecorated but when my father went for a shower we noticed that there was no anti-slip surface on the bath or any mat to prevent slippage. There was also no wall bar to allow older guests to balance when showering. On top of this, it was a bit of a lottery whether we would get hot water or not!!

The friendly bar mentioned on the hotel website was anything but. On the Saturday evening it was riotously noisy and occupied by locals who stared disapprovingly at any strangers who dared to enter. We turned around and left again without buying a drink.  

Their car parking facilities is a piece of old waste-ground up a hill behind the hotel.

Please do not waste your money. Portpatrick is a lovely town with lots to offer visitors and I'm sure there is much better accommodation available. To be honest I would rather sleep on a bench on the sea-front than frequent the Downshire again!!

Very Poor - Don't Book

We didn't stay at the hotel we just used the bar. If you like local, this is your place. Friendly staff, reasonable prices considering the tourist prices getting charged elsewhere in town. Saturday night lively enough but not mobbed as we were there on a Saturday when they didn't have live entertainment. A good mixture of locals and visitors, sports on the TV through the day and a pool table. Frequented by young and old alike and a very short walk from the harbour. We went on the Sunday night too, which was a fair bit quieter.
Open until late, if you're still standing (I was but only just!) this is a cracking wee pub in which to while away some idle hours.

Friendly local bar

I always try to highlight the positives and the Downshire hotel did have some. It is well situated near the sea and has parkin.  The staff were really friendly and helpful on arrival. The room was in need of a lot of TLC but was clean. We were at the end of a corridor and arrived at 10pm. As the landing light wasn’t working we had to use our phone lights  to find our room. 
The beer was really good. 
Breakfast was served from 8am. The staff didn’t turn up until 5 past 8 which was an issue as we needed an early start for our 90 mile cycle journey. We gave in our orders. The Full Scottish Breakfast was very good but 5 of us had porridge which was lukewarm and powdery.  We had to ask for sauce and butter and other basics as this wasn’t out on the self service table or individual tables.  
Overall, I would stay here again but having experienced 2 other similarly priced Scottish hotels over our 3 day visit, I feel the Downshire is overpriced.

Friendly staff, good beer and good Full Scottish Breakfast.

We were a group of 14 cyclists who booked this hotel well in advance. Arrived 5pm Fri Eve & notified that if we wanted food supplies were limited as they had run out of food (they did us a favour really..will become apparent later) Informed that breakfast would be served between 8-845am so we stated that we would be there for 8am 
The bedroom was clean but basic.
We ate elsewhere which was fab.
So there we were at 8am waiting for breakfast..chef/cook arrives 805am. Our fresh brewed coffee arrived which was in fact Nescafé instant in a pot.
Ordered porridge..a small bowl of cold gruel came. Asked for it hot & the response was oh you want warm porridge 😮
Most of us ordered scrambled eggs on toast...runny scrambled with a hint of green . Bork.
All in all pretty shabby. Would not recommend this place unless you are accustomed to staying in a DSS hostel.


Poor in every aspect

We visit here every year and it never fails to deliver. Saturday night is quite lively. Good crack, full of characters and drink at a reasonable price. Entertainment on a Saturday.
Expect a bit of hustle and bustle but never ever seen any trouble.

Cracking pub full of characters

We were staying in the apartment of Dowshire Hotel, my nephew. Margaret, their son their cousin, Neil and I. It was spotless and so modern well furnished, all amenities. After arriving we went a walk a lovely late summers night

The Downshire Hotel

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