The Imperial Hotel, Hove

First Avenue, Hove, BN3 2GU
3 star

The Imperial Hotel is situated on the South Coast of England. We are within minutes of Brighton's town centre. Great care has been taken to create an interior t...

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£ Rooms from £45 (≈ $83) per night
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8/10 Overall rating

Category Average Rating
8/10 Check-in process
7/10 Your room
7/10 Working order of facilities / equipment
8/10 Order and cleanliness of the hotel
7/10 Performance of staff
8/10 Overall experience
8/10 Overall value for money
  • 9/10 Simon (Solo leisure traveller) 

    from Nottingham , GB on  July 10, 2008

    "Very good and will definetly use again as suited my purpose of a bed for 2 nights, was fairly central and value for money." (108030691)

    Shower was fine despite previous reviews to the contrary.

    Flat £9.95 rate for breakfast. I might have paid if there was a reduced rate for just cereal and toast.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 10/10 Allan (Solo business traveller) 

    from Thatcham , GB on  July 1, 2008

    "excellent" (108062276)

    friendly staff nice location good facilities

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 9/10 Deborah (Group of adult friends) 

    from Mountnessing , GB on  April 29, 2008

    "I would stay at this hotel again as it was a nice experience overall." (97080640)

    The room size and cleanliness and facilities were excellent. The 24 hour check-in service was most helpful.

    The unhelpfulness of the breakfast staff as it was 10.01am when my partner required breakfast.

    3 of 3 people found this review helpful:

  • 6/10 Anonymous (Solo business traveller) 

    on  June 28, 2008

    "At £39 fair, but I'd only stay again if I had to and at this money. I'd rather stay in a Travelinn/Travelodge/Holiday Inn Express." (108072221)

    Pleasant staff

    A bit of a rabbit warren and poor parking

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 7/10 David (Family with young children) 

    from Romford , US on  June 24, 2008

    "bit far away from town centre" (108079562)

    cute guy on reception

    bathroom smelled

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 7/10 Barry (Solo leisure traveller) 

    from London , GB on  June 16, 2008

    "Arrived late, slept-in, left at 10am. Declined breakfast - over-priced at £9.95. (Hove's cafes offer better quality and value.) I glimpsed other (double) rooms as I left; all seemed much roomier and better-appointed than the room \i had just vacated. Of course one expects single rooms to be smaller than doubles - but the contrast was so great that it was hard to believe my room and the others on the fourth floor were in the same country, never mind the same hotel! Charming staff. " (99811575)

    Staff, price

    Room grim, stuffy and poorly decorated. Loo didn't flush properly.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 9/10 Peter (Group of adult friends) 

    from Eastbourne , GB on  May 8, 2008

    "The bar could have been better staffed, but on the whole the staff were great" (97953500)

    The staff were very accommodating and relaxed, the room was spacious and had big, fully opening windows - which is essential

    the bed was a bit rickety, no minibar, not cheap

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 9/10 Anonymous (Solo business traveller) 

    on  March 19, 2008

    There was a lot of noise of people talking and shouting outside on the Friday evening - I think probably from an outdoor area associated with a bar or pub. This was very disturbing as I went to bed at 11 and the noise didn't stop till about 12.30. Probably nothing to do with the hotel - but another business - however, if the hotel can investigate and negotiate - that would really have helped the comfort and enjoyment of my stay.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 8/10 Peter (Solo leisure traveller) 

    from Reading , GB on  March 14, 2008

    Room was clean & comfortable. Service by the staff was excellent. Breakfast was good by British standards. The TV, although small, did at least have 8 or 9 channels.

    My only problem was with the shower. The bracket was broken, so it could hardly be moved; the shower head was cheap and plasticky; the water flow for the shower (and taps) was erratic -- it kept spluttering -- some serious plumbing work is required here.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 9/10 Bart (Young couple) 

    from Amsterdam , NL on  August 11, 2008

    "Nice hotel, great location" (107111812)

  • 6/10 Peter (Young couple) 

    from Eastbourne , GB on  February 19, 2008

    Efficient and friendly staff, large clean room

    Shower was luke-warm at best, room was cold

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 9/10 Anonymous (Solo business traveller) 

    on  July 8, 2008

    "I enjoyed my stay and apart from the breakfast was extremely happy with my choice of hotel." (97473974)

    The hotel was very clean and the staff extremely welcoming and kind.

    I was a little disappointed by a couple of aspects of the breakfast. The food was generally low quality produce - the fruit was cheap tinned, the jams were very cheap. The toast was brought to the table almost immediately after I sat down, so that by the time I wanted to eat it, it was cold and soggy. Some of the cooked was breakfast was fine. The bar lunch, however, was fantastic.

  • 8/10 Stuart (Young couple) 

    from Cambridge , GB on  December 12, 2007

    "good location, good room, service was fine. Parking was a small issue." (97441001)

    price and good sized rooms near to centre.

    smell of smoke in room/ from other rooms.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 8/10 David (Group of adult friends) 

    from Colchester , GB on  November 28, 2007

    "Hotel was comfortable and provides a good buffet breakfast. Good access to beach, seafront, pier, town centre and entertainment. Would have been useful to have known about the limited parking outside the hotel." (97583271)

    Ease of access

    Parking - had to park some distance away

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 9/10 Adam (Young couple) 

    from Norwich , GB on  June 3, 2008

    "all in all, a very nice hotel, cheaper than the rest of the hotels on offer, and definitely alot more homely than a travelodge." (97890362)

    Very clean, tidy, nicely set out, courteous staff, night porter (a bonus considering the time we got in), all in all, very good.

    bit of a way out of the town centre.

  • 7/10 John (Mature couple) 

    from Bingham , GB on  June 14, 2007

    "Pleasant. Slightly spoiled by parking fine that could have been avoided [I thought I had bought a 24hr permit]." (99220549)

    Clean, spaceous room

    Shabby outside appearance of building. Breakfast expensive. Curtains falling off runners.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 8/10 Anonymous (Solo leisure traveller) 

    on  March 15, 2008

    Small but clean room, good bed and well working shower.

    Bar somewhat boring, with limited sortiment.

  • 8/10 Mark (Group of adult friends) 

    from Harlow , GB on  February 22, 2008

    Though the single room was small it was spotless and actually had a full sized bathroom all equipment in the rooms worked and were in good order

  • 10/10 Anonymous (Mature couple) 

    on  February 8, 2008

    "Please see above. The only confusion I had was whether I had paid on booking via the internet or whether I paid the hotel. I thought I had paid via the web but the staff were very polite in explaining that I needed to pay them." (97662888)

    The standard of the hotel, room & facilities was a very pleasant surprise. For the price, the room & facilities were excellent value. The location was perfect & the staff were excellent.

    Nothing

  • 7/10 Anonymous (Young couple) 

    on  March 28, 2007

    "For the price it's a great hotel. 30 minutes walk along the seafront to the centre of Brighton. Only 4-5 pound in a taxi. I would stay again." (99482344)

    We had a very large room with a great four poster bed. Can't say if the rest of the hotel rooms are like this but it was a great room.

    Minimal staffing. Parking is on the street, got a space but it was the only space left.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 8/10 Ann (Mature couple) 

    from Gloucester , GB on  January 23, 2008

    Proximity to front and car parking.

  • 3/10 Paul (Mature couple) 

    from Harrow , GB on  November 25, 2007

    "Poor accommodation, unhelpful staff and overpriced !!" (97601039)

  • 7/10 Nicola (Solo leisure traveller) 

    from Bristol , United Kingdom;GB on  January 4, 2007

    "Very cosy, comfy, traditional hotel - old-style and right next to sea. Parking difficult, however, as have to pay extra for middle bay outside - this may be OK at quiet times but on New Year's Eve this was impossible." (99362364)

    Very cosy and comfortable, everything I needed, the location - right next to the sea.

    Various broken items in room and bathroom - top of tap came off, hook for curtain came straight out of wall. Some of TV channels didn't work but did on the up and down changer, would have been good to know. Bit stingy with the amount of milk, tea and coffee - I drink loads and only two tiny thimble portions of milk provided, although staff happy to provide more.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 8/10 Anonymous (Group of work colleagues) 

    on  October 26, 2007

    Relaxed atmosphere

    Distance from place of work...

  • 9/10 Anonymous (Young couple) 

    on  October 24, 2007

    "With residents parking passes available for only £2 per day, parking is much better at this end of town than at the Brighton end. The hotel is well decorated, the rooms airy and clean, and the staff very helpful. It's only a short and very pleasant walk along the seafront to the centre of Brighton." (97792635)

    Very friendly staff and spacious bedroom

  • 8/10 Anonymous (Solo leisure traveller) 

    on  November 29, 2006

    Nice room, great breakfast.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 9/10 Anonymous (Solo leisure traveller) 

    on  October 23, 2007

    "I frequently stay at this hotel and find it comfortable, convenient and well-run." (97569810)

  • 5/10 Adrian (Young couple) 

    from Wantage , GB on  May 31, 2007

    "Hotel is in a great location with restaurants, pubs and seafront nearby. However I felt for the money the room was small and unattractive and the bed linen was uncomfortable. I felt considering breakfast was not included the room was not very good value. The TV remote control was held together with selotape making it difficult to use. The staff were a mixture of very good and ok. I was taking my partner away for her birthday and the hotel diminished her enjoyment of the weekend." (99346658)

    Location

    Room was small and not very attractive.

  • 7/10 Anonymous (Young couple) 

    on  May 31, 2007

    Nice friendly, helpful staff. Room was situated in an area where the stairs in the corridor went down to only our room so it was nice and private. No other rooms of those stairs.

    Didnt realise how far away it was from Brighton pier. Yes it is walking distance but is a long walk.

  • 9/10 Anonymous (Group of work colleagues) 

    on  April 17, 2007

    "great service and a comfortable stay" (99390239)

    clean and tidy had everything we needed

  • 9/10 Anonymous (Solo leisure traveller) 

    on  April 8, 2007

    "On booking-in there was some confusion concerning parking. It was not made clear that Brighton has a bizarre parking regeme. Although the hotel provided the appropriate parking voucher it was not made clear there were restrictions on where you could use it. The Hotel Manager was very helpful and apoligetic and proceeded to sort it out with Brighton Council on my behalf." (99784198)

    The accomodation was clean and comfortable. The Hotel accomodated the fact that I wanted a non smoking room without question.

  • 8/10 Glen (Solo business traveller) 

    from Hadleigh , United Kingdom;GB on  March 27, 2007

    Hotel room clean and good.

    Reception staff polite but no more - not very friendly and welcoming. Food the worst I've had in a long time and it is difficult to ruin a salad and even more difficult to ruin chips.

  • 5/10 Anonymous (Mature couple) 

    on  September 5, 2006

    "The hotel is clean, albeit badly in need of redecoration, and the staff are friendly. The room was a very decent size, and the bathroom was adequate. We did not dine in the hotel, but the breakfast was very good. Finding parking close to the hotel is very difficult. We paid £110 for a double room with breakfast, which we felt was maybe a bit more than it should have been for the quality of the hotel - but the location suited us very well, so we are not unhappy." (3305049810)

    Separate sitting area in room Excellent breakfast served by very attentive staff

    Poor state of decorative repair; broken light bulb in one lamp

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 7/10 Richard (Solo business traveller) 

    from Sutton , United Kingdom;GB on  March 1, 2007

    "Staff pleasent and good value for money." (99510494)

    Room was very small. Limited facilities.

  • 6/10 Anonymous (Group of adult friends) 

    on  February 7, 2007

    It was clean and tidy. The staff were pleasant.

    The lift was not working. The room/hotel was too hot. The TV remote did not work properly. The shower was poor - the hot/cold water control was difficult to use. There were too many noisy guest on my floor.

  • 8/10 Anonymous (Group of adult friends) 

    on  January 4, 2007

    The hotel provided for all our needs. The check in was a quick process the receptionist made us feel very welcome. The room was clean and well presented.The breakfast next morning was adequate. Just the sort of accomodation we were looking for on our overnight stay.

    We disliked nothing about the accomodation just the usual parking problems in Hove. On this occasion we managed to park right outside but we did leave someone minding the car whilst we fetched the parking pass.

  • 10/10 Micheline (Solo business traveller) 

    from Ventnor , United Kingdom;GB on  December 14, 2006

    "As this was my first visit to Hove, I chose a hotel online that promised to be comfortable and well appointed. I was not disappointed. I was impressed with the demeanour of the staff, who were always courteous and saw to my every need without being asked. The meal I took in the restaurent, which I had on the first night, was delicious and cooked as requested. Breakfasts were a pleasure too offering excellent choice. There was plenty of space to move around in the dining area and again, the waiting staff were solicitous and courteous. In summary: staying at the Imperial was a really pleasant experience. One final comment: I did complete a paper questionnaire before I left. On it I indicated that it might be a good idea to have a single 'pay as you go' computer with Internet access in the lobby for those who, like me, choose to leave their equipment at home. Many hotels on the continent have this facility. I've stayed in Norway four times this year and each hotel had the stand alone PC. Just a thought. It would have been nice to have access to my online e-mail account." (99241706)

    It was spacious, warm and comfortable.

  • 5/10 Anonymous (Family with young children) 

    on  November 26, 2006

    "The hotel was in a nice location and only 15 mins walk to the centre of town and only 2 mins to the beach. The checkin was a bit abrupt and they asked you to pay the full amount before seeing the rooms, which is always a bit suspicious. We had a Superior room, which was nicely decorated and clean. We also had a single room for our teenage son but that was dark, dingy and cold. It measured about 10ft x 5ft. The receptionist was indifferent and not very welcoming and didn't care that our room was sweltering because the radiator was stuck on full. She just said its broken and maintenance would have to sort it out the next day! (bet they didn't - room 108) The lounge and dining areas are nice and spacious and the breakfast pretty good. Kept being woken up when people walked along the corridor because of the creaking. I would also like to see the night porter/staff ensure that guests arriving back at 02:00 are told to be quiet instead of letting them shout along the corridors." (99727289)

    The room was quite large with a large bay window. Nice lounge and dining area considering it was a 3*.

    The radiator was stuck on high which made the room very hot and stuffy. Windows could not be left open because they opened from the bottom up and there was a balcony running the full length of the hotel. Reception said that it would involve calling a maintenance person to sort the radiator out but wouldn't until the following day. The floorboards were also very creaky along the corridors.

  • 8/10 Anonymous (Mature couple) 

    on  November 15, 2006

    "Only stayed for one evening but everything was fine, the staff and service impressed favbourably and the breakfast was good." (99210745)

    Good sized, comfortable room.

  • 8/10 Anonymous (Solo business traveller) 

    on  November 13, 2006

    competent friendly staff, pleasant room. Staff had toilet seat fixed at my request very quickly, and checked with me that it had been done

    TV small, narrow choice of programmes, nasty bits in plughole

  • 5/10 Anonymous (Mature couple) 

    on  November 8, 2006

    "As above. It was a bit too far from Brighton Centre. Breakfast was nice." (99385398)

    Room was nice and big

    Tiny lift On street parking ( and extra cost) stairs confusing

  • 7/10 Anonymous (Other) 

    on  November 8, 2006

    excellent breakfast.

  • 8/10 Anonymous (Solo business traveller) 

    on  October 23, 2006

    It was very quiet and staff were polite and helpful.

    Nothing

  • 9/10 Graeme (Solo leisure traveller) 

    from Edinburgh , United Kingdom;GB on  September 15, 2006

    "I would quite happily stay here again. Comfortable, clean room and generally well maintained. Well run, with friendly and helpful staff. Good value for money - maybe because of lack of sea views (but still very handy for the prom). Just far enough from the city centre to ensure a peaceful night's sleep, but still accessible on foot (with a 20 minute stroll)." (3305225938)

  • 8/10 Kevan (Solo leisure traveller) 

    from Ascot , United Kingdom;GB on  September 7, 2006

    "hotel in good location, room was a bit small compaired to the last visit. parking a problem at nite had to drive around to find space which is not good if you value you car and end up leaving it far away, but on the whole stay ok, and would go back." (3305151357)

    price wos good for location, hotel away from the crowds

    Room a bit small, and basic compaired to the room i stayed in before at this hotel.

  • 10/10 Geoffrey (Mature couple) 

    from Stoke-on-trent , United Kingdom;GB on  September 3, 2006

    "The hotel is ideally situated for visiting anywhere in Hove,or even Brighton,this was made clear on the web site and was what made us book in at this particular hotel.We found the hotel without any problem by following the instructions provided.As we said my wife and myself could find no fault with the hotel it's location,the food,the staff or the room thank you for a most enjoyable stay." (3305133934)

    The entire hotel had a feeling of quality about it.The staff were very friendly and efficient.

    We could find no fault with the hotel,if we were to be really picky I would say it could do with a bit bigger lift.

  • 9/10 Terence (Family with older children) 

    from Egremomt , United Kingdom;GB on  September 2, 2006

    "Well located and well appointed hotel. Reasonably priced for locale. Excellent restaurants and pubs within comfortable walking distance. Performance and attitude of staff, particularly the manager Christophe, could not be faulted. Local transport arrangements, taxis retained by the hotel, clean and punctual." (3304231388)

    Clean, comfortable, quiet. Good sea view.

    If staying longer would have preferred more space.

  • 8/10 Philip (Solo leisure traveller) 

    from Buckhurst hill , United Kingdom;GB on  August 31, 2006

    "I can find very little to complain about and the accommodation was pretty much as expected for a three star. An added bonus was the breakfast which I thought was very good, made with quality produce. Having said that I think they could expand the breakfast menu as it was limited although very nice." (3305259384)

    Seaview from the window of room 204. If on my own I would ask for the same room.

    Tables at breakfast where a bit too close together which limited privacy.

  • 9/10 Anonymous (Solo leisure traveller) 

    on  August 25, 2006

    Accomodation is very good.Had a meal in the resturant this stay which was lovely ! The staff a all so polite & always making sure all is good with ur stay.

    On this visit the lift was broken which made it hard to get cases up & down the stairs. Would have been nice if the lift was fixed within the day like when staying in hotels/apts abroad.

  • 8/10 Tracey (Mature couple) 

    from Crediton , GB on  June 2, 2007

    "overall i was very pleased with my stay at imperial. there were very different prices quoted over internet and at hotel and on phone which was quite disconcerting. but stay was very enjoyable. Room clean, spacious and staff very friendly." (99394633)

    room was very spacious, very clean and ensuite servicable. staff friendly and helpful.

    shower screen very difficult fo fully open to get into shower as it was fixed and not folding. but shower fine once in

    0 of 1 people found this review helpful:

The views expressed on this page are the personal opinions of guests and therefore do not necessarily represent the views of Active Hotels, Active Reservations or our distribution partners (About our hotel reviews).

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