The Grand Former Railway Hotel Right Next Door To The UK&I's No.1 Golf Course

Jeremy Ellwood returns to this fabulous hotel, which is now part of the ever-growing Marine and Lawn empire, right next door to Royal County Down Golf Club

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The exterior of the Slieve Donard Hotel in Co. Down
Slieve Donard is a grand former railway hotel now under Marine & Lawn's ownership
(Image credit: Jeremy Ellwood)

The golf

Royal County Down
Championship: par 71, 6,868 yards; Annesley: par 67, 4,594 yards

The Championships Links at Royal County Down, rated number one in our UK&I Top 100 course rankings, needs little introduction. It’s a world-renowned links with stirring backdrops of the Mourne Mountains to the south-west and Irish Sea to the east.

View back to town at Royal County Down

The famous view back towards Newcastle town and the Mourne Mountains

(Image credit: AirSwing Media)

It’s a fabulous ride through the dunes, with thrills aplenty via exciting fairway corridors, rough-edged bunkers and intriguing green complexes.

Staring back towards town and the mountains on the picture-postcard par-3 4th, then as you hit over the fairway crest on the 9th, are among the many highlights.

The early holes on the Championship links at Royal County Down

Looking over some of the early holes on the Championship links at Royal County Down

(Image credit: AirSwing Media)

But just at Royal Portrush, Northern Ireland's closest challenger for top links honours, there is a second, lesser-known links at Royal County Down, too.

The Annesley Links at Royal County Down

Finding the target on the Annesley Links' short par 4s is often no easy task

(Image credit: AirSwing Media)

The Annesley Links may need a little more introduction, but is as worthy of your attention as its big brother despite its very modest yardage, with countless tantalising par 4s that many will find hard to resist (maybe to their cost!).

The three relatively new holes by the sea from the 9th to 11th are glorious. The 9th plays down and round to the left through towering dunes; the arrow-straight 10th hugs the shoreline; and the short 11th plays in its own little corner.

The 9th hole on the Annesley Links at Royal County Down

Towering dunes flank the left side of the 9th hole on the Annesley Links

(Image credit: AirSwing Media)

The hotel

The Slieve Donard, which opened in 1898 as a luxury railway hotel, has long formed a striking link between town and golf club with its ornate, instantly recognisable red-brick facade.

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Looking down over the Slieve Donard Hotel to the bay and Mourne Mountains beyond

(Image credit: Photography: AirSwing Media, Ireland’s Content Pool)

The railway may long be gone, but the hotel continues to strike the same pose, now under the ownership of Marine and Lawn, which operates six hotels in some of the UK&I’s most famous golfing towns.

Ornate woodwork at Slieve Donard Hotel

The ornate woodwork above the beds at the Slieve Donard Hotel

(Image credit: Jeremy Ellwood)

Getting to finally stay for more than one whirlwind night allowed me to fully appreciate everything it has to offer, from the fitting grandeur of the bedrooms and public spaces to the contemporary excellence of the spa gazing out over the bay.

Slieve Donard Hotel bedroom

The bedrooms have been style to match the hotel's rich heritage by new owners Marine & Lawn

(Image credit: Jeremy Ellwood)

Best Deal

There are no specific stay and play packages for Slieve Donard and Royal County Down, but the hotel’s special offers include ‘Spoilt for Choice’, which gives you £100 credit to use on food, drinks or a spa treatment if you book two nights or more.

The ‘School Holiday Mini Break’ offers a second room at 50% in school holidays, with under-12s enjoying complimentary breakfast and dinner. Green fees at Royal County Down are £450 for the Championship and £120 for the Annesley.

Slieve Donard, Downs Road, Newcastle, Co. Down, BT33 0AH, Northern Ireland
T: 0284 372 1066
E: info@slievedonard.co.uk
W: marineandlawn. com/slievedonard

(Prices correct at time of publication in February 2026)

Jeremy Ellwood
Jeremy Ellwood
Contributing Editor

Jeremy Ellwood has worked in the golf industry since 1993 and for Golf Monthly since 2002 when he started out as equipment editor. He is now a freelance journalist writing mainly for Golf Monthly. He is an expert on the Rules of Golf having qualified through an R&A course to become a golf referee. He is a senior panelist for Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland Course Rankings and has played all of the Top 100 plus 91 of the Next 100, making him well-qualified when it comes to assessing and comparing our premier golf courses. He has now played 1,000 golf courses worldwide in 35 countries, from the humblest of nine-holers in the Scottish Highlands to the very grandest of international golf resorts. He reached the 1,000 mark on his 60th birthday in October 2023 on Vale do Lobo's Ocean course. Put him on a links course anywhere and he will be blissfully content.

Jezz can be contacted via Twitter - @JezzEllwoodGolf


Jeremy is currently playing...


Driver: Ping G425 LST 10.5˚ (draw setting), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 55 S shaft

3 wood: Srixon ZX, EvenFlow Riptide 6.0 S 50g shaft

Hybrid: Ping G425 17˚, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Orange 80 S shaft

Irons 3- to 8-iron: Ping i525, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Irons 9-iron and PW: Honma TWorld TW747Vx, Nippon NS Pro regular shaft

Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 50˚ and 54˚, 12˚ bounce, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Putter: Kramski HPP 325

Ball: Any premium ball I can find in a charity shop or similar (or out on the course!)

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