The Grand Hotel Eastbourne

During the Victorian era, the Sussex coast was the playground of royalty, the upper class and the wealthy and the region is home to many hotels that were once grand places to stay. However, The Grand Hotel Eastbourne is the grandest of them all and, unlike many other hotels along the south coast, it hasn’t lost its class.

The hotel has 152 rooms on four floors, which includes 53 suites.

Rooms are relatively spacious – between 30 and 34m² (323–366 sq ft) – and include comfortable beds, flat-screen televisions (with both Freeview and free satellite channels), a coffee table and writing desk, tea and coffee making facilities (including Nespresso coffee machines) and en suite bathrooms with Molton Brown toiletries and bathrobes. Four of the rooms are wheelchair accessible.

Suites are larger – 58–93m² (624–1001sq ft) – with a separate sitting area and are ideal for families that need a little extra space. Many of the suites have balconies and ground floor suites have a small patio overlooking the swimming pool. Classical music buffs may want to splurge on the 77m² (829sq ft) Debussy suite, which is where French composer Claude Debussy stayed in July and August 1905 while he composed his symphony La Mer.

The hotel has other notable musical associations. Not only did Debussy stay here but six years later, on a similar theme, Frank Bridge completed work on his orchestral suite The Sea and every Sunday night between 1924 and 1939, the Grand Hotel Orchestra broadcast live from the hotel for the radio programme, Grand Hotel.

The Grand is home to two of Eastbourne’s finest restaurants: Mirabelle and The Garden, which are complemented by the hotel’s lounge, terrace and cocktail bar.

The Independent has listed the Mirabelle restaurant amongst the UK’s 50 best restaurants and AA have awarded it two rosettes. Meals are served based on a table d’hôte menu (with a choice of two or three courses). These menus change every week based on what local produce is in season and the overall theme consists of modern British and European cuisine with a focus on fine dining. Mirabelle is open Tuesday–Saturday for lunch and dinner (it is closed on Sundays and Mondays).

The Garden is the hotel’s more informal restaurant, which is open every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It features modern British cuisine with locally sourced seasonal ingredients. Like the Mirabelle restaurant, lunch and dinner at The Garden are table d’hôte menus (with a choice of two or three courses) as opposed to à la carte. A very traditional English breakfast is available in The Garden (complete with kippers, kidneys and black pudding) but it is rather expensive.

Even though The Garden is the more casual of the two hotel restaurants, they are both rather fancy and are places that you’re expected to dress up for.

The hotel’s lounge areas offer another option where you can order from a menu of sandwiches and light meals although the most popular option is the afternoon tea, which is served 2.45–6pm daily. Of these lounges, the Great Hall is the most impressive and it was here that the hotel orchestra performed a weekly programme for the BBC for the 15 years leading up to the outbreak of the Second World War. The Great Hall is a palatial lounge area with tall ceilings, palm trees and a grand piano and it is the preferred spot to enjoy the hotel’s excellent, but rather pricey, afternoon tea.

Free Wi-Fi wireless internet access is available throughout the hotel.

Unusual for a five-star hotel, The Grand Hotel is relatively child-friendly. It has an excellent children’s programme that includes a supervised playroom, a games room and a special children’s afternoon tea menu.

The hotel is also dog-friendly but only in certain rooms (and only one dog per room) and you need to let the hotel know that you’re bringing your dog when you make your booking. It costs an additional £20 per night for your dog to stay, although this does include bedding and dinner delivered by room service at your pet’s regular mealtime.

The hotel has a wellness centre in the basement, complete with spa treatment rooms, a fitness centre, yoga classes and an indoor swimming pool. There is another swimming pool outside as well as a sun deck with lovely sea views.

Although it is a tad expensive, it is a very grand hotel indeed and it is an absolute steal compared to what you would pay to stay at a hotel of a similar standard in London.

The hotel is located on the seafront overlooking the Western Lawns just south of the Devonshire Quarter. It is close to the Eastbourne Heritage Centre, the Lifeboat Museum and the Towner Art Gallery (all less than a five-minute walk from the hotel), the pier and the town centre are just over a 10-minute walk away and it is a 15-minute walk to the railway station.

The hotel has 70 outdoor parking spaces.