Best boutique hotels in Brighton 2023: Boho glamour and affordable B&Bs

Brighton certainly deserves its reputation as one of England’s trendiest seaside town. This city of two halves (Brighton and Hove) even gives hipster havens such as Portland a run for its money, and it’s easy to see why. Not only is the East Sussex city teeming with the hipster must-haves – record shops, vintage boutiques, vegan restaurants, coffee shops and tattoo parlours – it also boasts a cool club scene, alternative vibe and LGBT+ friendliness.

Then there are the pebble beaches, fun fair pier, cultural curiosities and art galleries, the legendary Lanes lined with independent shops and a burgeoning restaurant scene to suit every possible taste and pocket.

Add a continual run of events – such as the Fringe Festival, the Great Escape and Artists Open House – and it’s clear this seaside spot has much more to offer beyond the beachfront. Hence visitors flock here from all over the UK and even farther afield.

But where to bed down after exploring everything this south coast beauty has to offer? Again, you’re spoilt for choice, with Brighton and Hove offering everything from boho establishments in the city centre and hotels with funky decor, to glamorous retreats with sea views. But if you’ve got your heart set on a boutique bolthole by the sea, here’s our pick of the best boutique hotels in Brighton.

Neighbourhood: Kemp Town

This is the sort of bolthole you dream of for a romantic getaway: small, perfectly formed, no kids allowed, and a swish champagne bar on the ground floor. What’s more, as Brighton’s first-ever boutique hotel with years of experience, Blanch House really delivers with the glamour.

We recommend the vibrant Pommery Room or the opulent Art Deco-styled Legacia Room, but each of the 12 updated and themed bedrooms across this attractive Georgian townhouse are the stuff of fantasy. Expect oodles of richly coloured velvets, mirrored wallpaper, a flash of the Jazz Age in furniture and fittings, alongside sumptuous beds and gilded mirrors. Heavenly stuff.