This Victorian townhouse (2022 UPDATE: the house is no longer listed on Airbnb, sorry), built in 1857, is situated on a residential street in Brighton’s adjoining city of Hove and features four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a walled garden. I stayed here for 2 nights in May 2017. I’ve mixed some of the Brighton Airbnb (listing no longer active) profile pictures with my own video review above and images below so you can get a real feel for the house. And when you visit, don’t miss my Brighton city guide.
Rates
Prices start from £69 per night for a private room and £295 per night for the whole 4-bedroom house. To check the price and availability for your dates, click here for a private room and here for the whole house (listing no longer active).
Location
Whilst Hove was once a separate city from Brighton, the two officially merged in the late 90s and so it really doesn’t make a huge difference where you stay. The city isn’t that big, and you can walk from one side to the other in under an hour.
The house itself is on a quiet, leafy residential street in the main part of Hove, filled with beautiful townhouses like this one. The area isn’t very built up at all, which allowed for some gorgeous sunshine to flood through the windows throughout the day.
The house is a 35-minute walk from Brighton train station or 10 minutes in a taxi. It’s a 7-minute walk to Hove station (which connects directly to Brighton) and a 10-minute walk to Hove beach. (I do say a 5-minute walk for each of these in my video review, but then I am a fast walker).
There are loads of buses that run along Church Rd near the house, which can get you into central Brighton in about 15-20 minutes. The buses are about £2.50 each way or a day pass is only £5.00, so it isn’t expensive to get around the city.
Over the last 10 years, I’ve found Hove to be increasingly the part of the city that I prefer to stay in. All the nice brunch spots and stylish restaurants are either on the border of Brighton and Hove or in Hove these days, so don’t feel like you are staying in the wrong part of town here. It’s fast becoming the area to be in.
The rooms
I had a really comfy double bedroom on the first floor in this Brighton Airbnb. My window looked out over the backyard, and the room was always filled with beautiful natural light. My bed was so comfy I ended up lying in most mornings (very unlike me) and just chilling. The sheets were crisp and clean, and there was plenty of room for all my bags etc.
There are three more bedrooms in the house, so this really is a great place for a group of 6-8 people to stay. There is ample space for everyone – I didn’t even see any other Airbnb guests staying the same weekend as me.
The bathrooms
Suffice to say, if I could have lived in the main bathroom for the rest of my life, I’d be pretty happy. It is HUGE – roughly the size of my tiny London flat (slight exaggeration, but you get the idea). The owners have put a huge amount of work into restoring this room, and it shows. Dark slate floors, white tiled walls, huge plants, the biggest rainfall shower I have ever seen, and so much natural light. Basically, my dream.
There’s a second bathroom on the next floor up that has a vintage roll-top bathtub. It’s not as showy as the other bathroom, but it has been very tastefully renovated as well.
The hosts
Mark and his partner Fred are so lovely – I couldn’t think of more gracious hosts. There were other Airbnb guests staying in the house whilst I was there, and they went out of their way to ensure we all had everything we needed. They have ample experience in the service industry, having run a restaurant and bar together for many years, so they really know how to treat their guests well.
Their family is completed by three adorable dogs – French Bulldogs, I think? You can tell I’m not a dog person, and, in fact, I was a little hesitant, but these three cuties captured my heart. They were so relaxed and lovely. Plus, their little legs can’t make it up the stairs, so they only hang out on the ground floor and backyard, which suits them perfectly. They are also your hosts if you’re staying in one of the private rooms but get to go on a holiday with their dads if you book out the whole house.
Amenities
On the ground floor, the house features a large open-plan lounge/dining room plus a brand-new kitchen. If you’re renting this house out for yourself and want somewhere you can make your own meals, then this place is perfect for you. There is also free WiFi throughout the house, which worked well the whole time I stayed. I also loved the fact that the WiFi is named after Jefferson Airplane – Fred’s favourite band.
The bottom line
Brighton may be a very popular seaside destination in the summer, but it isn’t a very big city. This means there are surprisingly few hotels, considering how busy it is on sunny weekends. This means that any stylish accommodation option is very pricey and usually fully booked. That’s why I would recommend looking at Airbnb options if you’re visiting Brighton, as you can score some really lovely, inexpensive places to stay like this one. What a treat to stay in a gorgeously renovated house in such a lovely area. I am really picky about staying in an Airbnb, but this one was very high-spec. I would highly recommend this as an option for all visitors to Brighton.
Don’t miss my Brighton city guide
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Disclaimer: I know Mark and Fred through performing with Sink The Pink. They invited me to come and stay with them just as they were finishing up their house so I could write this review and feature it on my social media accounts. They made no editorial demands on me, and this is a completely honest account of how I felt about my stay. As a general rule, I don’t write negative reviews: if I don’t like somewhere I stay, I won’t feature it. So I obviously really liked this one.