Lansdowne Place Hotel

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I booked a two night stay at the Park Inn hotel Brighton from 24-26th June via lastminute.com as a romantic break for my partner and I before he deploys to Afghanistan for 6mths. At £254 for 2 nights room only it was supposed to be a treat but was completely ruined by the terrible state of the hotel.

On arrival we were given a room on the first floor which was tiny and looked out onto rubbish and broken glass, the door was open when we arrived as was the window and there was a giant swarm of flies hovering over the bed. I went back to reception and was told the only other room available was on the 4th floor. We took it as there was no way we could sleep with all the flies. We ended up having to walk up 4 flights of stairs to get to the room as the lift was out of service, it remained out of service all weekend with no sign of anyone coming to fix it.

The new room didn't look out onto rubbish and had no flies but it was baking hot, I would expect a 4 star hotel to have air conditioning or at least decent ventilation. We were to afraid to use the ceiling lights as one was blown out and all four lampshades were burnt through. The room was so narrow it was impossible to go round the end of the bed without hitting the wall mounted TV. The whole corner of the room was covered in peeling pain and what looked like mould, it was clear to see even though someone had tried to hide it behind an orchid plant. The internet socket had wires hanging out of it.

The common parts were equally poor, we tripped up the stairs on one of our many climbs as the carpet was ripped. There were stains over the carpets in most areas.

I had booked the hotel as it had a gym but the gym was already closed when we arrived on Friday evening and didn't open until 10am on Saturday morning by which time we had to be up and out as there was no car parking available through thte hotel we had to park on street meters and move each morning and evening and then constantly feed them during the day.

It was a very hot weekend, especially in a room with no airconditioning yet there was no water provided, no minibar and no fridge so we ordered water from room service, it arrived warm.

I have stayed in many hotels for work and pleasure and have never been so disappointed. I do not expect to have to walk 4 flights of stairs, sleep with mouldy walls or flies and to have no air conditioning.

We stayed here for 2 nights on a 'last minute' deal. The room was really comfortable, it and the bathroom were spotlessly clean and we had a bright, sunny aspect.
The service, however, was fairly appalling for a 4* hotel. We arrived in Reception only once to find someone there with no way of calling for assistance. We waited in the bar, at 7pm, 10 minutes before a bar steward came (from the stock room with his trolley of drinks). The first three things we asked for, he didn't have. We then went into the restaurant for Dinner to be greeted by a waiter in trainers and a very long face with 'Do you have a reservation?' and nothing else. We sat, sat, waited and sat and then, after 15 minutes being completely ignored, we left and found a fantastic French bistro in town.
When we checked out (whilst being vaccuumed round) the couple in front were dissatisfied with the food served to them in the restaurant the night before, had been charged for several things they hadn't had. I paid the outstanding bill and was then given a copy of someone else's. I expressed, when asked, that our stay hadn't been great but the member of staff who dealt with us clearly had no idea how to cope with a complaint,
Lovely building but terrible staff.

1 reader found this review helpful

The hotel appeared to be suffering post season blues. Some public areas were dirty, a ladies lavatory was broken and flooded but not closed resulting in my wife getting wet feet and generally the place was tired. The room was OK but nothing special. A curtain was hanging half off (although this was 'fixed' as soon as we pointed it out. You could just about glimpse the sea past the ugly back of some flats. Woken early by what I assume was the laundry springing to like and then grinding away.
The food in the restaurant was awful even though there was a limited menu. Lunch was seriously overcooked steak and tuna leaving them tough, dry and tasteless apart from the heavily chargrilled taste surrounding the tuna. We both opted for safe pasta for dinner and although not great was edible. Breakfast was the worst type of buffet served in English hotels - poor continental selection, dry sausages, limp bacon, tasteless scrambled egg etc. My wife loves full cooked breakfasts but could not eat the fare offered here.
The bar was souless and lifeless as well as being cold. I like a drink but was happy leaving there to retire to bed.
On a positive note the staff were friendly even when correcting an overcharge on my bill!
A very positive note was the spa which was excellent. Staff and therapists were exceptionally friendly and excellent.
Go to the spa by all means but I would suggest the hotel, restaurant and bar are avoided.

This is a very honest review from a travel agent who has been in travel for 14 years and stayed in many hotels. This hotel is about a 5 minutte drive from Brighton town centre. Upon first impressions the boutique style hotel looks very impressive. However in reality this is a very old hotel with a few decor trimmings. The hotel does not warrant a 4*. The rooms are very creaky. We had a room next to a fire door. All through the night every time someone walked up the landing and the fire door shut it shook our door and sounded as though someone was just about to open it. We hardly slept all night. There is no mini bar in the rooms. We took breakfast in the morning and it was the worst buffett I have ever had in a hotel. There was a few rubbery pieces of English breakfast left. Not edible. A few bits and bobs on saucers displayed. Everything looked old, not fresh and poorly laid out. We left breakfast.
On the plus side the Hotel had very comfortable beds and friendly staff.

I got married at Lansdowne Place hotel in October, I would not reccommend it for a stay or a wedding. Reasons below.
-Wedding room was noisy whilst ceremony was taking place, noise could be heard from the bar next door during the service.
-Staff member stole a cheque from my room whilst I was getting married and cashed it for £1000 whilst I was on honeymoon, Police have proved the person responsible was working at the hotel at the time. NO apology ever received.
-Fathers credit card charged unlawfully for a bar tab that was never requested.
-No gesture for bridal couple from the hotel, i.e Champagne, chocolates or fruit basket -considering we spent a considerable amount of money during our stay and generated revenue through our wedding and guests. Management said not a justified complaint.
-Management do not care about after care or service, no apology or gesture has ever been received.
Overall pretty appalling care by the hotel. I would keep your eye on all valuables whilst staying at this hotel I don't think they do checks on staff working for them as they said. Also our room key was just handed out to anybody during our wedding who needed to get in our room.

I paid £140 for one nights stay in one of the standard rooms on Saturday. The website describes all the rooms as being “sunny, bright and spacious”. This was not true of room 102 for me: one of the bulbs in the light fitting was not working and when I moved one of the bedside lamps, its light went out and fused the other lamp and the television. Reception sent a young man to try to sort this but he was unable to get the lamp working again and there was, apparently, no lamp which could be offered to replace it. With the light fitting partially working and only one bedside lamp (all with dark lampshades) the level of lighting was low and dingy. It was not possible to read in bed.
Although it was a warm night, I was unable to leave the window open as I had a choice between its being open approximately two feet (and it opened onto a flat roof – security-wise I did not feel happy about this) or being closed. I chose the latter.
The bathroom was not altogether clean, although I understand that the room had been occupied the night before. There was a layer of dust, approximately 2mm thick on the top of the tiles on the right hand side on entering the bathroom. I was surprised that there was no plastic/glass tumbler for use in the bathroom.
There was a permanent black horizontal line across the television screen (when it was on, regardless of the channel). Although the remote control indicated that a radio channel or channels was/were available, when I pressed it, the message “channel unavailable” appeared on the screen. I have always assumed that the availability of some radio access could be regarded as standard in hotel rooms.
I certainly cannot fault the quality of the staff in the Lansdowne Place Hotel – their response was excellent but they did nothing about anything. The charge of £140 for a room which offered such limitations as I have listed above was, I believe, grossly in excess of its worth.
I was immensely disappointed; I find it hard to believe that such standards are acceptable for what is now styled a “boutique hotel”. I wrote to the manager, but received a reply three weeks later saying that the would be in touch with me "shortly". Six weeks later I'm still waiting....

We arrived on my birthday for what was intended to be a romantic relaxing weekend. First impression was not good. The brown nylon looking reception carpet was threadbare and covered in bits. The front desk was thickly padded with a ghastly shiny purple/silver velour. Teamed with poorly painted black gloss paintwork, this gothic "fetish club" theme continued throughout the entire hotel, dotted along the way with the odd Buddha head, art deco mirror, and dusty artificial flower arrangement. The occasional tables and sideboards showed grime and sticky marks, had missing handles, were mismatched and tatty. The newer purple carpet was lumpy and showed every speck. Many areas needed to be refurbished far more urgently than the chairs. Lavishly covered in the same "spark in the dark" velour as reception, I imagined they could deliver a nasty electric shock should you take the time to sit down.
I arrived on time at the spa reception desk which was a poorly painted, black gloss, plywood box (with a fish tank in the centre) and bits of peacocks feathers dotted around. However my relaxing experience was cut short by the very stressed therapist being 30 minutes behind schedule. My treatment had to be cancelled due to her lack of time.
My husband had asked for the room to be "decked out" with flowers and balloons He imagined foil helium hearts floating above a 4 poster bed trailing satin ribbons. No. They forgot, so one of the staff kindly nipped down to the local corner shop and got a kiddie pack of balloons which they blew up and tossed on the floor. The bed was hard and had a long draught excluder type of sausage laid across the bottom of it??? (more purple velour) They also got TWO identical bouquets of roses which were proudly displayed in two not identical ice buckets. There was no fruit, no champagne, but the hotel proudly presented us with a very cheap looking bottle of red wine as compensation for for all the problems.
The large (and only) window had no voile or blind. Scaffolding and a work platform complete with tools were erected right up to the glass... don't worry we were told the men don't work weekends... My husband paid cash for the flowers because he was told that the money had come out of petty cash and the short fall would have to be explained to the owner. We voiced our dissatisfaction and my utter disappointment, which fell on deaf ears, then we left. Total time in the hotel was about 2 hours.
My recommendation if you want a really romantic relaxing birthday? AVOID THIS PLACE! Oh by the way the final straw... they debited my husbands card for the full amount even though we didn't stay there.

Excellent hotel. Maybe we got lucky with our room but it was really fabulous and very quiet (there was a wedding on in the hotel when we stayed and we didn't hear a thing.)
We didn't park, eat breakfast, or order any extras so can't comment on these. Found reception staff very friendly and obliging. Very family friendly.
Clean, stunningly decked-out bar and restaurant, great location - nearer the Hove (quieter)end of Brighton. We were there for the Bank Holiday and it was a little haven.
We will go back. We stayed in rm 213 if you are wanting a recommended room!

1 reader found this review helpful

Copious amounts of ruched purple velvet don't justify £140/night (£90 for a single) or 4 stars. All the money spent on soft furnishings doesn't hide the fact that the refurbishment was "bodged" and little more than a cosmetic make-over, scrimping on the essentials that make a 4 star boutique hotel.
This hotel is clearly run by penny-pinching property developers who have stripped out any unique extras or attention to detail that one would expect from a "boutique" hotel (as it bills itself).
My room smelt of vomit (nice!) and my complaints were met with a shrug of shoulders and promises to send in a cleaner (arguably if it had been cleaned properly first time it wouldn't now be lingering). Opening the window was no good because all the smokers hung out on the front steps and their pollution drifted upwards into my room to add to the smell.
Service was slow and uncaring. Food and wine was basic and over-priced. Paint and plaster was peeling. Extras such as tea and coffee or complimentary bath products were paltry. Needless to say won't be going back and wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Our star at this hotel was awful. I wouldn't have given it a 4*. My husband and I went there for our 7th wedding anniversary and were really disappointed with the service all round. The lift did not work.
We were on the 3rd floor, but each floor had 2 flights. The breakfast order was right for my husband and completely wrong for me. Although refurbished my window was cracked and the paint was peeling, and the view outside was a rusted fire escape. An elderly couple (one with a walking stick) were shown the service lift by a helpful receptionist.
But 2 minutes later I heard her getting told off and she had to promise never to allow that to happen again. The elderly couple were on the 4th floor! So 3/10 I feel is generous.