Hotel du Vin is Brighton's most expensive and exclusive hotel and restaurant, and this is reflected…read morein every aspect of what this place has to offer. Everything here is to the highest quality, from the amazing restaurant/gastro-pub/bistro to the rooms themselves. Everything here is to a truly high standard, but massively overpriced, losing Hotel du Vin the five star rating it truly deserves.
I didn't realise Hotel du Vin was a boutique chain until recently: having only noticed it in Brighton, I assumed it was another of these ridiculously expensive, privately run hotels that dot the Brighton seafront between the two piers. It certainly seems that way from the outside, as the decor and set-up is professional yet quirky: an old fashioned thatch sandwiched between two tall towers. This charming eccentricity extends indoors as well: the rooms are designed in a casually peculiar way, often mixing epochs and colours for some... interesting results!
However, under this there are all the signs of a well-run, professional business. The bistro bar/restaurant serves absolutely excellent food, and the wine and cocktail list is impressively long. The spa treatments on offer, while expensive, are apparently very nice, and there's even a rentable beach hut. Nothing has been skimped on here.
All of this does come at a price, and it's a rather hefty one at that. Everything is quite simply too expensive: a common Brighton issue, but the prices here are so astronomical that they blow a lot of the town's other price-hikers out of the water. I suppose what is on offer is of the finest quality, but it is all excessively rich. I suppose Hotel du Vin are trying to attract a certain type of clientele... and if you sit in the lobby for long enough, you will see some faces you recognise!
While Hotel du Vin is a lovely experience, be it to stay or have a meal or treat yourself to a massage, but make sure you're bringing plenty of cash with you!