More Traveller Reviews of Lansdowne Place Hotel
typically disapointing
from A TripAdvisor Member
not very good to be honest ... expensive for what it is... however the food in the restaurant was excellent... we left with that all too familar feeling that we had spent a lot of money on an 'ok' weekend... dont stay here if you want value for money... bin laden's cave was more lavishly furnished than our 'superior room'.. and probably had a better sea view...
Distinctly unimpressed
from A TripAdvisor Member
Stayed for two nights recently, having selected the hotel from the web. What a massive disappointment. I love the idea of the boutique hotel, I love the idea of mixing old with new styling, but this place has just got it badly wrong. It looks far too much like a quick makeover, and as a result the tattiness shines through in every corner. And what on earth are those grim aluminium windows in the bedrooms all about? I thought this was a listed building? Attention to detail is badly missing too. Small things like there being no spare loo roll in the bathroom - and no toilet brush either. There's a safe in the room, sure - but it weighs about 2 ounces and isn’t fixed down to anything, therefore it's useless. And quite where you're supposed to store your clothes if you're staying a week, I have no idea. We resorted to neat piles on the floor at the foot of the bed, because there certainly aren't any drawers. The food was fine, but expensive for what it was. Finally, staff attitude. They either didn't understand us, or couldn't care less - or perhaps both. Some of them seemed incompetent, and some of them seemed to think that they were FAR too important to be worrying about those irritating people who kept asking them for things. For the price we paid for the room, we found (subsequently) that we could have had a very good room elsewhere. For example, we could have had the most expensive room in the Hotel Seattle, which is several light years ahead in terms of quality. Sorry if the truth hurts, Lansdowne Place, but it has to be said. Needless to say, we'll be staying elsewhere next time.
Nice bar, shame about the rest
from LadyAmelia
I stayed here for 1 night with my partner recently in a king room. Although spacious, the room was very plain and flet a little scuffed around the edges. The bathroom was very poor in comparison to other hotels - very plain, even slightly grimy-feeling. There were no fluffy robes, nothing. Very sparse and very little luxury, especially surprising since it was one of the most expensive rooms in Brighton. The bar and lobby are very cool, stylish and attractive, and the restaurant looked fantastic, although we didnt eat there. The rooms really let this place down.
Mixed at best
from A TripAdvisor Member
This hotel is a bit curate's egg - good in parts, but unfortunately it fails in too many. So... arrival - no parking available, but not a problem - had been warned, so unload and park 10 mins away. Quickly into room, looks OK, nice bed and linen, but no soap shampoo or lotion, used shower gel and no robes. Cupboard needed re plastering and on closer inspection room - particularly windows - was a bit tired all over. Dash out to eat, go to concert - had lovely time. Return about 11pm, not too noisy and so to bed. Comfy bed, slept pretty well. Wake up next morning - shower - not bad, bit MFI, but acceptable. Really looking forward to breakfast - and at that point we were first exposed to the staff.... which is where it really falls down. I could accept the tiredness of the fittings and the inflated prices if the service was good, but frankly it was such an effort for the staff to do anything. Small portions (tasted OK to be fair) but no buffet style meant you had to ask for everything, and nothing was offered (not even a refill of coffee) - for £14 for what is laughingly called a 'full' English breakfast! No way - I have paid less and had more (with fantastic service) at the Four Seasons in central London. Only saving grace was the reception manager who gave us our breakfast for free after complaining, and was very pleasant. So - in summary - quirky hotel - bit tired and cheaply done out. JUST about worth the price, but don't bother with breakfast and have no expectations of any kind of service. If they trained their staff and gave them all a lesson in customer satisfaction, I could forgive them .... but unfortunately I can't!
Didn't we have a lovely time...
from boardbaber
Having seen all the recent reviews I would like to say how much we enjoyed our stay at the Landsdowne Place Hotel. The staff were great and so eager to please (our room was a bit chilly but they got us a heater whilst the radiator was warming up) and breakfast in bed was the best I've had for a long time. I do agree with other reviewers over the lack of a fridge/bar in the bedrooms - something I've never been able to understand in the UK as everywhere else in Europe, no matter how basic the accommodation, a fridge is always provided. We stood our champagne on the window sill outside....I recently had a spa session (May 2006) and enjoyed it so much I'm booked in for a half day in July when we're attending a friend's wedding there - I can't wait!!!
fab service shame about the breakie and finish!!
from A TripAdvisor Member
Well we arrived last weekend with a slight fear beacause of some very negative reviews- it turned out to be a great weekend dispite the rain. We booked on the internet and it did't say the cark park was limited, the front of the hotel is let down by dead plants and the owners obviously have a thing for purple and velvet! However,the reception staff were fabulous we even got personel recommendations on Restaurants to try after they had tried really hard to tempt us into 'The Grill' on the Saturday Night.The receptionist who was checking us in had to answer the phone twice but was very apologetic both times and one of them even helped us with our bags while my boyfriend parked the car. Trouble was breakfast on the morning was definatley not good value for money and although the staff were friendly it all seemed such a struggle. It calls itself a boutique but there must be a hundred rooms with a hotel that size learn from the chains like Hilton and offer a buffet! Both ours and our friends rooms were clean with goreous sheets, but a bit disapointing to have no Sky TV. The bar is very funky but the service on Saturday night was painfully slow and the foreign bar man was really rude, our friend complained to the manager at reception and she was amazing, the drinks were bought to us in the lounge and despit being a crazy saturday night, a dodgy disco was going on she sat down with us and gave us the drinks free and chatted about Brighton with us. The spa was disapointing because they only seemed to be interested in ' our clients' who booked treatments, we couldn't have a robe to use when we used the sauna and it was made quite clear what time they close!! But all in all great rooms, great reception and a good nights sleep which we never get at the Hilton because of all the noise in Brighton.
Dreadful service, value and disgusting food
from ProfessionalCouple
Read this review before you book as I suspect the glowing reports are by the owners themselves. Key points to note:- > Lack of staff upon arrival > Rude staff - within reception and restaurant > No one could speak english properly > Wires hanging out of walls > Its in Hove - not Brighton so fair old walk to town > Damp in rooms > Bad DIY job / DIY nightmare in rooms/htl overall - take your pick > Don't even compare with Hotel du Vin - no where near this standard (we've been there) > No parking space or help as to where we could find (response - its your problem by staff) > Noisy stag/hen do in hotel - more like Butlins than boutique We are not pretencious people - but were lurred by the advertising of Boutique. It isn't and you'd be hard to find any credible acclaim to 3/4 star (they purport 4* as well as Michelin chefs - simply not the case as the food was overpriced and cold in the middle). If you want a better standard of hotel, try the centre of town or the Marina. Really truely awful.
All sizzle and no sausage
from tazmaniak
This hotel tries too hard to be something it is not. I've stayed here three times only because it is directly opposite my flat which was being renovated. It’s had numerous teething problems after its refurb & renaming from the "Dudley Hotel" which locals knew as the Deadly Dudley for years prior. The first room I had was on the top floor and its main problem was a huge ugly damp patch from a leaky drain or damaged roof. The floors were also so badly sloping that the drawer of the desk was constantly sliding open whilst coins and keys would also slide effortlessly off the table. The floors creaked so badly (in all the rooms we've stayed in actually) that it put me off moving around in the night in case I woke those below me! The rooms are of good size generally and the furnishings, bed, linen and bathrooms are also clean, modern and comfortable. The showers were always very good although the amenities were poor and the bathrooms very sparse. The hallways outside your room can be noisy especially on Saturday (Hens) night. The decor style is very odd as it’s neither tastefully antiquey nor daringly modern and the weird Thai statues on every window sill, also visible from the street, are creepy and seem more for the owner’s pleasure than mine. If you move around some of the stair wells and back halls, you will undoubtedly come across some of the scary carpets from its Deadly Dudley Days and I suspect that much of the "renovation" done to this hotel was merely cosmetic. Sadly the worst part of this hotel experience was the lack of service. Poorly trained Eastern European serving staff and cold, detached reception staff let this hotel down badly but my biggest gripe had to be my dinner tray lying outside my room the following morning (at 8am) even after I'd called them to advise I'd finished at 11pm the previous night. This was disgusting. The room service was incredibly slow although the resulting food was quite good. The staff were often absent, even on reception, and one night I had to hunt around the entire ground floor to ask for a bottle of water and even then I couldn't find a soul let alone a bottle! Not good for security. The (additional cost) breakfasts were meagre and, when cooked, were cold. The bar was equally poor with luke warm wine and G&Ts with no lemon and hardly any ice. All this for a hefty 5-star price. In summary, this "boutique" is selling cheap crushed velvet fashion (you will be so over velvet after your stay) at terribly high prices by people who don't care about service. Avoid this place if possible.
One to Avoid....
from A TripAdvisor Member
Like me, if you're shallow and choose hotels on their look and feel - wanting to be pampered in luxurious surroundings this is sooo not the hotel for you. What an absolutely pathetic excuse for a "boutique hotel" (and I use the term loosely). The staff are incompetent and moody, while the hotel itself leaves a lot to be desired for. Shabby around the corners, peeling doorframes, bathroom windows that have rusted and won't shut properly....the interiors are poorly designed with cheap details which I can only presume were intended to lift the design quotient of the rooms. It failed miserably. Call me fussy, but I like to be able to adjust the showerhead in the bathroom, have a bottle of water available for those moments of dehyrdration (oh... no minibar BTW), or not have to hear fellow patrons walking down the hotel corridors. It's a hike to get anywhere in the town centre for fear of taking your car out of the 8-car garage. And before I forget, if you're unlucky like we were, you could find yourself blocked in by some idiot who didn't hand their car keys to the valet. Nothing more than a nice website to look at.... definitely take your custom elsewhere. You've been warned!
GIves boutiques a bad name
from adamlegge
If anyone's looking for a good example of why the boutique hotel idea has had its day look no further. This place reeks of someone hopping onto the bandwagon and doing it on the cheap. The shabby-chic, retro-luxury look still has some mileage if done properly but the finish here is patchy. Our £160 double room was a lovely size with some great original 30s-40s fitted furniture but the bathroom was generic modern hotel with cheap toiletries, plastic glasses and a drench shower head without the water pressure to power it. The badly painted window frames and bleach/paint spattered hallway carpets all add to the feeling of a job half done. Also make sure you give the £14 breakfast a miss- I've had better ones at a Holiday Inn.
More hotel photos
We went there for 1 night, having booked for the valentines package. The whole hotel has old decor and needs a refreshment. When we arrived, the chocolates were not in the room. There is NO PORTER in the hotel and only one receptionist very busy, so she can't solve any... more