The Brudenell Hotel

Only our third meal out since March, and only chosen because the weather was too dire for the long walk we had planned, we booked a table for lunch. It's easy to get out of the habit of eating out, particularly at a time when things are so different from normal, but apart from careful one-way signage and the staff wearing masks, this was a welcome return to normality. We pretty much had the place ourselves, so service as attentive, the sea view inspiring and the food just wonderful. For what I always consider the town's premier hotel, lunch was also surprisingly affordable.

Stayed at the Brudenell Hotel on Saturday night taking advantage of one of their Special Black Friday Luxury deals. This included a cream tea on arrival, dinner, overnight stay and full breakfast. We have had meals there before but never stayed. What an amazing treat it was. Room 106 looking out to sea was real luxurious from comfortable bed to super shower! Yes a shower that does what it says on the tin. Good vibes in the restaurant at dinner even though COVID-19 restrictions applied. Enjoyable Fish and chips for me and my wife enjoyed the crab Thermidor. Following a good night’s sleep in a super size bed we both sauntered down for breakfast. I had a full traditional breakfast with all the extras, black pudding beans etc. Good hearty stuff. My wife had the vegetarian option which looked very tasty too. Excellent service and efficient too. So I really cannot fault the stay and the luxury experience. We will certainly stay again.

A really nice stay, Nice room with sea view. Covid measures good. There were lots of hand sanitiser points. Staff we met were all very friendly. Breakfast was lovely and well presented. We’ll be back next year I’m sure

We expected to have a lovely time as we've stayed at the Brudenell before. Room fine apart from very high bath on claw feet! But the service was poor, and the problems as follows: The waitress never asked us if we wanted fresh drinks at lunch, though my glass had been empty a while. Whilst waiting for our room to be made available in the lounge/bar area, no one approached us to see if we wanted coffees etc. The same waitress from lunchtime was in and out all the time but ignored us. The roast beef for lunch was underdone (all pink) and I had to order something else. Some people might like it like that, but I don't, and wasn't asked. We ended up sharing a fork between us at breakfast as the breakfast wasn't cooked as my husband had asked, and they forgot to replace his cutlery when they brought his breakfast back. I could really have done with some more coffee but there was no-one to ask. The waiters and waitresses were not exactly attentive. Worse still, my husband had a terrible choking fit on his breakfast starter, and I had to thump his back for ages before he could breath again. No-one in the hotel offered help, not even a glass of water! A very disappointing stay and not what we expected.

So you already know about the view, and I can assure you it will live up to all your expectations and then some. And at this time of year you don't need to get up at silly-o-clock to enjoy the sunrise - I opened the curtains at 8.30am to a scene so spectacular my heart is still singing. Definitely the best view in town. Hotels further up the beach are set further back and frustrated by a high shingle bank. It's a lovely hotel - a warm friendly welcome, HUGE rooms, and a decent restaurant. We splashed out on a deluxe sea view room, which was so super-heated on arrival it would've made any self respecting sauna blush. Turning off the radiators and opening the window (more on that window later) helped to some degree, but the room remained curiously hot - presumably due to furnaces raging in the rooms above and below. Global warming people - dial it down! It's a funny experience visiting hotels in Covid, and one must be forgiving of the necessaries. One such concession in our room was that the soft furnishings had been removed (my first thought was that the sofa cushions had spontaneously combusted from the heat) and there was no mini-bar. Suspect the latter is always the case, Covid or not, and it's a shame - if ever a room was going to tempt you to pay minibar prices, throw open the window and sit under a blanket with a glass of red, it's this one. But you see, you couldn't throw open the window anyway. It only opens about 2 inches. WHAT!? It is nothing short of a crime in this room, with the sea almost in touching distance. Presumably the management think we'd all immediately fall out if they trusted us to open it, like we do all the time at home. In winter I felt cheated. Summer guests must feel like launching a heavy object though the glass. Anyhoos, overall a lovely stay. The rooms are slightly tatty around the edges, which I don't mind in the least bit, but we paid over £300 for a B,B&D deal, which puts this firmly in premium territory. Had it been a wee bit cheaper, then this might have warranted 5 stars (notwithstanding its attempt to boil us alive). A couple of final notes - in room 201 you can lie in the bath with a view of the sea (a rare luxury in ANY class of hotel), and pleased to report that contrary to many complaints in previous reviews, breakfast now runs till past 10am.