insideKENT Magazine Issue 75 - June 2018 | Page 139
GETAWAYS
Flying the flag for beachside brilliance at the
BRIGHTON HARBOUR HOTEL
I BRIGHTON! FROM AN ABUNDANCE OF CHILDHOOD MEMORIES OF TRAIN TRIPS TO THE SEASIDE,
FAMILY GATHERINGS, TEENAGE YEARS MEANDERING THE LANES AND SOME TRULY MEMORABLE,
SOMEWHAT RAUCOUS EVENINGS OUT, NOT LEAST THE ONE THAT CEMENTED MY RELATIONSHIP WITH
MY NOW HUSBAND, BRIGHTON HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY GO-TO DESTINATION. SO, IT IS ALWAYS WITH
AN AIR OF EXCITEMENT THAT I RETURN, ALBEIT ONE TINGED WITH JUST A LITTLE APPREHENSION AS
TO WHETHER THIS TRIP WILL FULFIL MY EXPECTATIONS. THIS TIME AROUND, I WAS SCHEDULED TO
STAY AT A HOTEL THAT HAS HAD EVEN THE STAUNCHEST OF BRIGHTON LOCALS RAVING; I HAD AN
INKLING THAT I WAS ON TO A WINNER WITH THE BRIGHTON HARBOUR HOTEL . BY SAMANTHA READY
The Brighton Harbour Hotel could still be
deemed a relative newcomer to the Brighton
hotel scene, having swung open its
refurbished seafront doors just last year. Like
most destination hotels it recognises that most
will come, check in and go out – that’s what
one does in Brighton, no? But, it succeeds in
an offer that when you are there you don’t
really want to leave…
Check in was personal and friendly and we
were pleasantly surprised by the contemporary
interior, fresh art work and homely feel that
belies its exterior; not least because many
moons ago, I actually stayed in the same very
building under a previous – and pretty hideous
– incarnation. This was less refurbished and
more reborn, a testament to the Harbour Hotel
Group and its painstaking reinvention that
has finally realised the building’s potential.
Not content with simply offering 79 nautical
hipster-sleek guest bedrooms right opposite
the beach, ours, along with 34 others, came
complete with sea views, the comfiest king-
size bed, plump pillows, a cool colour scheme,
and bathrooms filled with The White Company
goodies. Ooh, and help-yourself decanters of
sherry and local gin! Win! The Brighton
Harbour Hotel has stepped it up more than
a notch.
A basement spa haven of secluded swimming
pool and treatment rooms ripe for escapism;
The Jetty restaurant – so sought after that
even we couldn’t get an early spring evening
reservation; and HarBar a cocktail bar that
somehow manages to offer atmosphere and
sophistication without attitude and enough
mixology magic to make it less cocktail bar
and more lifestyle statement.
So at home were we making our way through
the drinks menu – we highly recommend the
Java Joe, a twist on a traditional Espresso
Martini, and the Grey Goose Le Fizz – in the
New York-sophistication vibe of HarBar, that
we debated not leaving to go out at all… Instead
we ordered one more for the road,
immediately Instagramming it; not for self
indulgence, but simply because it needed to
be shared.
Venturing out, the prime location of the
Brighton Harbour Hotel becomes even more
evident; a few steps from the beach and pier,
a quick double back to The Lanes and North
Laine, and very close to a fair few of Brighton’s
best eateries and bars… While we may not have
had the pleasure of dinner at The Jetty this
time around, we were able to sit windowside
for a delicious, local breakfast, which is handily
served late on the weekends; the perfect start
to a Brighton day and the perfect end to a
Brighton Harbour Hotel stay.
Brighton Harbour Hotel
64 King’s Rd
Brighton
East Sussex
01273 323221
[email protected]
www.brighton-harbour-hotel.co.uk
BrightonHHotel
BrightonHarbourHotel
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