New Steine Hotel Brighton Review
My husband and I recently spent a long weekend in the seaside resort of Brighton on the East Sussex coast. Of course after transport to get to Brighton the second most important element to the trip was finding accommodation which wasn’t going to break the bank, but was within a reasonable walking distance from the sights we wanted to visit. After doing some research online I came across the boutique 4 star New Steine Hotel which was within a few minutes walk from the centre of the City and had decent prices including a locally sourced breakfast. They even have an AA Breakfast and Dinner Award – perfect!
We jumped on the train in London and an hour and a bit later arrived in Brighton and found our way through the streets of the City using Google Maps to help with the directions. We arrived around half an hour later and the first impression of the New Steine Hotel was a good one, it was certainly well positioned with the beach a mere few minutes walk away and some handy local shops just down the road. The New Steine Hotel can be found in a lovely Georgian town house in a row of similar style buildings of many colours, and the outside was certainly impressive.
When we arrived outside we were a little confused as it seemed to have 2 front doors – we picked one at random and found ourselves in a corridor with a door leading away and no reception desk leaving us a little lost. Without any signs to help us find our way we decided to go through the door to our right and found ourselves in the breakfast room and peering around we spotted 2 members of staff behind what looked like a bar. My husband enquired as to where we check in and they informed us that we were in the right place, although we weren’t bowled over with their lack of enthusiasm when it came to welcoming us.
Despite the confusing entrance, the check in process was quick and easy and we were soon shown up to our room. Being a Georgian town house the rooms are divided up onto several floors, our room was on the second landing and on entering we discovered a bright, welcoming double room albeit a little on the small side, but it still managed to hold a double bed, small table with 2 chairs, wardrobe (with safe), bedside drawers, a desk/ dressing table with a telephone and hair dryer, and a television on a stand which held refreshments (tea, coffee and some biscuits). The hotel also offers included WiFi. I really liked the simple interior of the room with wooden furniture, a nice feature wall behind the bed and the minimal soft furnishings. The room was very neat, tidy and was very clean. I was slightly put off by a crack in the bathroom wall which looked a bit ugly but it didn’t take away from the overall appearance of the room too much.
The only slight disappointment was really the en-suite bathroom which had been built inside the room making it and the bedroom smaller than expected. The bathroom included a shower, toilet and sink with a shelf for toiletries. The en-suite was literally the width of the shower cubicle making it very snug! The hotel had provided some lovely looking toiletries including body wash, body lotion and shampoo. However, I didn’t really get to enjoy the shower much as it took a long time for the hot water to come through and unfortunately the water pressure was very low and after use continued to drip, keeping my husband awake at night! On our last day in Brighton the riser rail holding the shower head gave up all together and would no longer hold the shower aloft.
Despite the disastrous shower problems the room itself was pleasant with lots of light coming in from the window from which we could see the Brighton Wheel located on the beach over the tops of the neighbouring buildings. The television offered a good range of channels to keep us entertained in the evening after our day out exploring the city. The bed was comfortable, although a little soft for my husband, and I had no problems getting a good night’s rest.
On entering the breakfast room we selected a table and were soon offered tea and coffee. Being vegetarian you never really know what might be available for breakfast at a hotel but I was pleasantly surprised to find a vegetarian breakfast option including egg (poached, fried or scrambled), meat-free sausage, hash brown, baked beans and mushrooms which I ordered along with a side of toast. My husband had the Sussex breakfast which came with egg (poached, fried or scrambled), sausage, bacon, beans and mushrooms. My husband can’t eat beans so he switched these for a hash brown . There was also a continental breakfast option including baked croissants, Danish pastries, fresh fruit, cereals, selection of cheeses and cold meats, and fruit juices.
Overall I was happy with my veggie breakfast, although the beans were served tepid at best and I have a preference for meat-free sausages made from protein (like Quorn), rather than the ones made from vegetables. My husband was happy with his breakfast (although was perturbed by a salt shaker being filled with pepper) which included locally sourced sausage and bacon. I think it is great when local businesses support each other so I was pleased to see this.
We also found that the level of service varied dramatically depending on who was working that morning with some being more attentive than others, for example, on the first morning our server asked my husband what sort of eggs he wanted and walked off without asking me the same question. Some of the servers were obviously not native English speakers and did struggle when taking orders, particularly when my husband used colloquialisms such as ‘red sauce’ in place of ‘ketchup’, but everyone was friendly and happy to help. Overall the quality of the service was good, if not somewhat haphazard!
Overall the New Steine Hotel in Brighton does offer a decent quality of accommodation, service and breakfast, although we are not sure it lived up to its 4 stars during our stay. We did experience issues both in the room with a dodgy shower, a few issues with service and a general lack of enthusiasm from the staff. That being said, for an affordable weekend away I would stay at the New Steine Hotel again due to it’s pleasant rooms, great location and the general quality of the breakfast. We award the New Steine Hotel in Brighton 3 out of 5 stars.
