The Best Boutique Hotels to Book in Brighton

If you’ve come to Brighton for the beach, look no further than a seafront room at Brighton Harbour Hotel. Corner suites and deluxe doubles in this restored Victorian property are neatly arranged around elevated sitting areas and free-standing baths. But the best feature here is the subterranean spa and gym, which sit below the vaulted ceilings of old smugglers’ tunnels that extend towards the sea. Take a dip in the heated indoor pool, or opt for a treatment and steam room session. Each room comes with complimentary gin and sherry.

Amid whitewashed Victorian villas on a sleepy residential street, this offbeat boutique hotel in Brighton Kemptown overflows with vintage style, eclectic decor and unpretentious charm. Each of the six doubles and two suites is a unique visual feat, from mid-century mellow to kitsch ’60s-chic. Two shagpile-festooned penthouses, complete with leopard and zebra prints, top it off upstairs – both odes to Boogie Nights. Reclaimed fairground signs, papier-mache heads and retro posters fill every nook. During breakfast, you can’t miss the bizarre Michelangelo-style ceiling fresco painted by local graffiti artist, Aroe.

Floor-to-ceiling windows line this modern Brighton city centre hotel, flooding the understated rooms with natural light. Filled with curved furnishings, artisanal mosaics and warm splashes of colour, My Brighton is a design-led triumph, offering a unique, minimalist ambience with contemporary flourishes, which include integrated sound systems and in-room bathtubs. The cavernous bar Merkaba offers signature cocktails inspired by all your favourite Netflix shows – including the amaretto-based Stranger Things and the Aperol-and-iced tea Tiger King – to a soundtrack of sophisticated Latin beats.

Standing sentinel over the boutiques and pubs of Ship Street, the gothic-style Hotel du Vin is a striking sight. The rooms blend the rich elegance of a gentleman’s smoking parlour – think heavy woods and deep leather – with the airy simplicity of a New England summer house. The Pub du Vin next door serves traditional English fare with choice wines, and it’s all just a stone’s throw from the Palace Pier and the quirky alleys and boutiques of the Lanes.

The bar and restaurant at Drakes are worth a visit in their own right, but a stay at this chic boutique hotel right on the seafront is an absolute treat. With views of the city and the sea, this is guaranteed to be a luxury stay. The Grade II-listed converted coaching house has 20 rooms, some of which have a freestanding bath in the bay window so you can sit and soak and take in the views of Madeira Drive and the Palace Pier outside. It’s a short walk to the shops and pubs of St James’s St in Kemptown and the Lanes.

Blending contemporary design with the familiar touches of home, the rooms at the Artist Residence are straight out of the pages of an interiors magazine. Instagram feeds will be instantly full with pics of the communal spaces, buzzworthy restaurant the Set and the surf-retro Cocktail Shack. The 24-room boutique hotel sits in classy Regency Square off the seafront, so you can enjoy the view of the now derelict yet hauntingly beautiful West Pier. if you do manage to venture outside the busy cocoon of the Artist Residence, you’re just a hop away from the beach and the bright city lights.

Pelirocco, a few doors along from the Artist Residence, has proclaimed itself the king of rock ‘n’ roll hotels, and there’s a good chance of a party of the hell-raising kind any day of the week here. The 19 rooms are a sumptuous mix, with names like Bettie’s Boudoir, Lord Vader’s Quarters and Nookii – so fantasy-fuelling that they’re often used for photoshoots, and the tiny ground-floor bar serves up excellent cocktails. Sometimes the best weekends away are also the loudest.

Hotel du Vin’s younger, edgier sister, Malmaison, overlooking the tinkling boats on Brighton Marina, is a quieter, more leisurely experience than you’d get in town, but it’s none the worse for that. Here in the east of the city, you’re close to the Undercliff Walk where you can enjoy a bracing walk. The hotel bar and brasserie serve classic English fare with a great range of wines, so you don’t have to go far, although there are plenty of distractions in the marina if you do feel like venturing out.

The Charm is a relatively recent addition to the boutique hotel scene in Brighton. Trading in luxury with airy, light and deft stylish accents, it’s already proving a popular one. Conveniently situated on the western edge of Kemptown, near the always trending St James’s Street, it’s also just a short walk away from the Palace Pier and the North Laine. Make the most of the on-site spa, complete with the hot tub or the steam room, to unwind and fully detox during your south coast stay.