Urban House

I've been to several B&B's in the UK and have to say that this was the worst I have ever seen: from a bedroom so small that barely fits a bed to a toilet that faces you as you open the bedroom door (without a door separating the room from the odors that come from said toilet). The hotel also suffers from a severe abandonment issue: the shower was poor and leaned on the (broken) soap tray, the taps and toilet seat were loose. At breakfast I had to search the dining area for cups without coffee stains, the jar serving the juice was also broken, the TV remote did not work (and reception was poor), the electrical sockets were poorly secured to the wall - and looked dangerous. Plus on one of the rooms you had to hold the kettle to boil water because the lead was far too small to reach the socket placed midway up a wall! Also if you are a foreigner like myself don't expect the choice of a british breakfast - something normally provided in other B&B's but not here - as they charge over 6 quid for it. Finally don't be fooled by their pictures, the decor is actually appalling, mostly done using cheap wood-chip planks and coats of white paint over peeling wallpaper. Stay away!! It is not an oasis but the complete opposite. Couldn't wait to leave. What nerve charging 50 quid a night for this.

The room was dirty (pubic hair on the loo, stained carpet and blinds), and badly maintained (crumbling paint and wobbly loo). You could tell the minimum has been spent to try and modernise the place, but in somebody elses words "you cannot polish a turd". I begged for a refund when I checked in at 2.30pm and was point blank refused either that or an upgrade by their rude and careless staff. Please note this hotel DOES NOT HAVE A STAR RATING!!! IT IS NOT 4*, as you will tell if you are foolish enough to book it. Save your money, buy a tent and pitch it on a motorway for a much more pleasant break.

Is it me or are hoteliers in the UK really getting away with murder? Charging substantial sums of money for very inferior accommodation. This hotel has a website whcih really seduces you with claims of relaxation, a beautiful spa etc. My room, though large, was stuck in a 70s timewarp. Being in the basement need not be the worst thing in the world but it is when facing a busy square without double glazing. The bath with shower attachment but no stand up shower, had very limited tepid water. There was not enough hot water to fill more than a quarter and then not enough for the sink to shave in. Continental Breakfast is at 8.30 - no early option if, like me, you are in Brighton for business. I was very disappointed but am now so used to being taken for a mug by British hoteliers I suppose I should stop expectin g much more.

I booked a junior suite at Urban after reading the website and thinking that it sounded a fresh and funky place to take my wife for a weekend break away from the kids. Its fair to say that we have been lucky and stayed at some lovely hotels in our lives and perhaps your expectations increase with age, but we were both truly disappointed with Urban House. You really do understand why there are only a few photos on the website - may be alarm bells should have rang! The ground floor (entrance, bar and spa) is still pleasant enough with fresh paint and carpet but anywhere else is not any where near that standard. I wont go into details with our thoughts but instead summarise by saying that the new carpet stopped at the ground floor(??), our carpet was strangely stained (???) and pretty much every fixture and fitting was broken or missing. That is genuinely no overstatement (plug, door handle, lock, tap . . . .) During our stay we promised ourselves to return to Brighton but to stay at the Thistle - clean and tidy and in a great location. So in summary Urban House and Spa . . . . . Great website! A quick P.S. to anyone thinking of staying at any hotel in the New Steine area. Be aware that the older buildings cant change their single pane sache windows and the area gets very noisey during the nights.

I booked the hotel then read others reviews and groaned really expecting the worst. However, we when arrived it was nothing like I expected it to be. First floor, bar & dining area was quite modern and clean. The free breakfast supplied was excellent with fresh toast, coffee, fruit, cereals & many pastries, all nice. I did have the full english one morning which was beautiful. The room we booked we a small double at top of hotel which was 4 flights of stairs which showed just how unfit I was! The hotel upwards is slightly shabby but not awful. The actual room was small but clean and had a great view of the sea & Brightonn Pier if you put your head out the window. LCD tv in the room, ironing board & iron, small wardrobe, tea/coffee making facilities & small bathroom with shower. The bed was very, very comfortable indeed, so much so hard to get up! The room was enough if your travelling on budget and just want a place to sleep, shower & have a lie down in but it's not a luxury stay. If you want a cheap place to stay for visiting Brighton & shopping I'd recommend totally with it being about 5 or so minutes walk from Brighton Pavillion and even less to the pier. If you are very fussy about your room maybe it's not for you. All staff very helpful and I'd certainly stay again!

Urban House looks good from the outside but take my advice and walk on by. I was given a room in the basement which stank and all the lights had fused. On complaining i was moved to the top floor which was a vast improvement . However the carpet was filthy, the blind didn't work and the water tank was very noisy. Very disappointing and i'm glad i was only there one night.

This was not my first choice of B&B for our weekend in Brighton, but as it was festival time, I was expecting it to be tough to find somewhere. So, I decided to pay a little bit extra and book Urban House. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. When we arrived, we were quite impressed with the bar and reception area, so had high hopes for the room. We were shown to our standard double at the top of the house, and were immediately struck by the fact that the room looked nothing like the photos on the website. When I booked, I understood that a seaview would cost extra, so just booked a standard double, expecting something of a similar standard. However, the room we were initially given had extremely outdated decor and was generally shoddily finished. It had everything that was described on the website to be fair (LCD TV, feather pillows etc) but more basic details had been overlooked and the finish was very poor. The hot water tank was right outside our room, and whenever anyone in the hotel turned on a hot tap, it rumbled away for several minutes at a time, which happened several times during the night. We did complain and were moved to a different room the 2nd night. It was an improvement, but still a huge disappointment. The curtains were hanging off their rusty rails, the bed was so creaky, I woke myself up several times in the night just by turning over in my sleep! We did mention to the reception staff that we were expecting something of a higher quality, given the impressive website, and were given what sounded like a well rehearsed response and were told that we had everything in the room that the website mentioned, that the pictures shown were of the luxury rooms, and £100 per night is perfectly reasonable for Brighton. All in all, it was very disappointing and not good value for money. Had we not paid the £215 upfront, we would have packed up after the first night and gone elsewhere. Maybe it is my fault for not reading through the lines when I looked at the website, but I felt that it is quite misleading.

Have just got back from a one-night stay at the Urban House Hotel & Spa, Brighton. On the plus side, it was great that they would take us for 1 night over the weekend because that is rare in Brighton. From the website & reviews I was expecting a luxury boutique hotel, but what it is in fact is a good B&B with some nice touches. If the price had been around £80.00 I wouldn't have quibbled or be writing this review, but I found £140.00 for a double room quite a lot for a B&B, especially as you had to pay extra for a cooked breakfast. Good things - large room, sea view, lovely bed & when first decorated the room probably looked good but the paper was starting to peel & the furniture was old & knocked about rather than antique. The bar downstairs is a welcome extra though with great staff, great decor & great cocktails. The spa looked lovely but we thought it a bit off that hotel residents were expected to pay to use the sauna & steam room - we've stayed in several spa hotels & that's the first time we've come across that. Breakfast (continental - see above) was a bit of a disaster as seemed uncoordinated - eg we didn't realise we were getting toast - it came after we'd finsihed our cereal & croissants & we weren't given anything to put on it - service just seemed vague. Nice friendly people though & fine for a B&B but overpriced

It was late, New Years eve and my partner and I decided at the last minute to leave London for Brighton for the celebrations. After searching the web for ages we were fortunate to find Urban House Hotel had one room available. On arrival we were pleased we had made the right choice. The hotel is situated in a beautiful scenic area a short walk from the seafront. The period building was bright welcoming and as inviting as its surroundings. We found the staff to be pleasant polite and very helpful. Our room was immaculate modern and comfy, we were very satisfied with it. Initially we booked to stay overnight, but we felt so at ease and pleased with the service in this lovely hotel we decided to stay an extra night. On our first morning we had a complimentary continental breakfast which we thoroughly liked but opted for a full English breakfast the following morning. We enjoy visiting Brighton annually as there is so much to see and do. Staying at the Urban Hotel was great value for money and an added bonus to our visit. We are looking forward to staying there again. We would highly recommend this hotel. They have a fantastic modern retreat spa too and next time we visit Brighton we will take full advantage of what it has to offer!

Urban House was a good find, it took ages to find a Hotel in Brighton that would let me book just one (Saturday) nights accommodation. So that in itself is a reason to book here. The Hotel is a good standard; we stayed in a sea view double for about 130 GBP. The hotel is on a little square with a green in the middle and it is virtually on the sea front. It is 5 mins to the lanes/central Brighton which was really convenient. The bedroom was great, good size, with a big bed and table and chairs, 32" LCD TV and DVD player. The shower room was clean and functional. Parking was a bit of a nightmare, expensive and inconvenient unless you are lucky enough to find a spot outside, but I think that is more of a problem for Brighton in general. Unfortunately we didn't get to try the breakfast as we slept in and we didn't try out the Spa which is on sight, but it looked really good.