Review of Blanch House, by Angela Moore

Blanch House is a Brighton darling. It was the first boutique hotel on the Brighton scene and is owned and run by Chris, ex-Groucho Club bar, and his interior designer wife, Amanda. Not surprising, then, that Blanch House has one of the best bars in Brighton and the rooms are a theatrical, boho-chic riot.

The boutique hotel is housed in a tall Victorian property on a typical terrace by the sea. Indoors, there's no reception as such, just a desk tucked into a corner of the bar. This is a fairly good introduction to the Blanch House ethos - unpretentious and laid-back.

The facilities

The bar at Blanch House is a temple to serious cocktails and the trendy folk of Brighton. It's open to non-residents and the parties have been known to go on until the small hours - light sleepers in first floor rooms, beware.

Blanch House also has one of Brighton's best restaurants and booking in advance on weekends is advisable. We were looked after by the sublime French maitre d', Vincent. His service was extremely casual - as everywhere in the hotel - but ultimately spot-on. Again, this is the Blanch House unstuffiness - don't come if you need formation-drilled service or serried ranks of footmen to make you feel cared for.

The rooms

All of Blanch House's 12 rooms are haphazardly and eccentrically themed. Decadence, one of the largest rooms in the house, has a crystal chandelier above a bed the size of Belgium. You have to fight your way through goose-down pillows to find it. In an alcove, on a raised dais, there's a double-ended Victorian roll-top bath, which is redolent of kinky postcards from the Twenties. Heavy velvet and tapestry drapes (close them and you're plunged into pitch blackness, bliss for late sleeping) and wine-red walls complete the feel. It's a wonderful room; hedonists only need apply.