75. The Windsor

With a commanding view over the seafront, the Windsor is one of the leading bars in the town.
It started life as the Burlington Hotel and at one time incorporated one of Bangor’s earliest cinemas, the Palace. One of the Palace’s 1930’s programmes was found under the linoleum and is on display in the bar, advertising Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave in Hitchcock’s “The Lady Vanishes” and Robert Montgomery and Virginia Bruce in “Yellow Jack.” Down the years the premises have seen many changes, the most recent being a complete refurbishment about three years ago, by the present owners, the Donegan family.

In fact one of the most unusual and interesting features of the bar is due entirely to the fact that Paul Donegan used to row for Queen’s University Rowing Club. Up in the bar (and thank goodness it’s a long narrow bar) is the sixty foot Clinker 8 rowing boat, the Slieve-Na-Maan, built in 1943 in Putney and with a career that includes the Henley Royal Regatta.

Everything about the Windsor seems substantial and actual, the antithesis of the phony and synthetic.
Those swing doors in the public bar are the original ones from the main Belfast G.P.O. building.

The refurbishing job retained the original bar’s black and white tiled floor and main entrance doors, while the snugs, with their attractive stained glass areas, are of no-nonsense carved solid mahogany. Upstairs, the high-quality restaurant and impressive function room have the same aura of substantiality.

The wrought-iron Victorian balustrade around the balcony came from Belfast’s famous Grand Central Hotel, and the split-level restaurant invites guests to a taste of gracious living. From the original paintings in the lobby, done by local artists, to the splendid view over the bay, the Windsor tells you that it offers first-hand quality.

It’s not surprising that plans are afoot for 18 bedrooms on its top three floors – the spirit of the Burlington lives on. The wheel of top-class service is about to come full circle.