Malmaison Brighton

Malmaison acquired the former Hotel Seattle at the end of 2015 and set about renovating it and the hotel now sports Malmaison’s hip and quirky style with a seaside twist.

The 73 hotel rooms are relatively compact but offer a high standard of accommodation. Around half the hotel rooms offer sea views with balconies and these rooms are a little larger than those with an inland-facing view. There is a choice of double or twin rooms as well as the larger Mal Club rooms and the Marina Suites.

All rooms feature comfortable beds, a small desk, a flatscreen plasma TV, a minibar, ironing facilities, tea and coffee making facilities and en-suite bathrooms. Mal Club rooms have larger beds, bathrobes and nicer decor and Marina Suites are apartment-sized rooms with separate living areas.

Three of the ground floor rooms are adapted for guests needing wheelchair access.

Like other hotels in the Malmaison chain, the restaurant and bar play a major role in your hotel experience. The large Chez Mal Brasserie serves excellent food in a nice environment with breakfast, lunch and dinner menus similar to those at other Malmaison hotels. The Prix Fixe menu is a good deal although the a la carte menu is a bit pricey.

The Chez Mal Bar has a hip ambience with a warm burgundy colour scheme inside and a large outdoor terrace where you can enjoy a drink overlooking the marina. The terrace and marina views are the hotel’s nicest aspects and if your room doesn’t have its own balcony you can still enjoy the view by visiting the bar. The bar menu includes small bites as well as light meals such as burgers, salads and speciality sandwiches.

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

The hotel also has extensive lounge areas plus private dining areas and it also has meeting facilities.

Although Malmaison makes the most of the hotel’s marina location, Brighton’s marina is not as great as it could be and your first impression is of an area characterised by fast food restaurants, a multiplex cinema complex and a big ASDA supermarket all surrounded by acres of parking. However, when you make your way beyond the supermarket the marina area becomes a lot more inviting with waterfront restaurants, nautical businesses and lots of boats. The Malmaison Brighton hotel is right in the centre of all this and many people find the location a nice alternative to the hotels on the seafront near the city centre.

The marina location is a far distance from the city centre. Although walkable (around a 40-minute walk) most people take the bus into town and the eastern terminus of the Volk’s Electric Railway is around a 10-minute walk from the hotel and this unique transport option will take you almost as far as Brighton Pier.

Local bus route 7 goes into central Brighton from the bus stop outside the hotel with departures every 10 minutes. You can also walk around the corner to the bus stop outside the McDonald’s restaurant for more frequent buses (routes 7, 14B, 21, 21A, 23, 27, 47, 52, 57, N7) into the city centre. The bus journey takes around 15–20 minutes.

Free parking is available which is a bonus considering that a parking spot can cost up to £30 a night in Brighton’s more centrally-located hotels. However, this is in a public parking building (near McDonald’s) and not the hotel’s own car park.

Photos: Malmaison Hotels [CC BY-ND 2.0]