Amherst Brighton

The building had no reception, so they sent me an access code. As soon as I went in, there was a strong smell of smoke. On the way down to the basement room I could hear every word from next door. The people sounded drunk or high, and the smoke seemed to be coming from there. I was alone and didn't feel safe, so I left to find somewhere else to stay. It was 10pm on a rainy night, which was incredibly annoying. My husband messaged them the next day, but they refused a refund because we hadn't contacted them immediately. There was no one to contact, and at 10pm we were busy trying to find another place. It had the feel of a crack den, with nonexistent customer service. I definitely wouldn't recommend it. There are lots of hotels in Brighton, choose another.

The location is perfect, right beside the beach. I was on the fourth floor, which was exhausting to reach, but the room itself was lovely. If you book through a third-party app like booking.com, you have to message them yourself to get the door code. No one ever answers the phone.

The pigeons woke me every morning, starting their song at 6am and carrying on off and on all day. There's a family of them that needs to be got rid of. My room was above the basement at the back of the building. The basement room has a little courtyard outside where smoking isn't allowed, but the couple staying there smoked weed every hour. The smell was disgusting.

We liked being able to buy food at the local shop and heat what we needed in the microwave. Each furnished room has a bed, sofa, bathroom, fridge, kettle, cutlery, plates, glasses, TV, microwave and sink for washing up. It's a quiet place at night, and the rooms were comfortable and clean. The bath mat could have been cleaner and a tea towel would have helped with the dishes, but those were minor things. A young man handled the service and was happy to bring extra towels, coffee or milk, and offered to clean the room and empty the bins while we were there. Wi-Fi was free, and we'd stay again. Amherst Brighton is a small Victorian room stay, more like holiday rentals than a hotel. It's around 200 metres from the gay bars, shops and wine bars, and the beach is the same distance. If you go to The Gym Group, that's about 200 metres away on the seafront, no more than a slow seven-minute walk. With gay pride the following week, we thought £80 a night was a good price and the room suited our needs. The main drawback is the grubby entrance. The owners should replace the hall, stairs and landing carpet and repaint the hallway door frames. Everything else was okay for the price.