Having reported a very poor experience in the restaurant a few weeks ago we were treated to a wedding anniversary tea in the great hall. A much improved occasion. Service was good and the delicate sandwiches and scones/butter/preserve/clotted cream were very tasty. The pastries, however, were a little on the sweet side but All in all a pleasurable afternoon.

My husband and I have just returned from a lovely 3 day stay at the Grand.
Having been here many times, before we do feel its actually improved.
The staff are brilliant...from Chris and Gary in Concierge to Emma on reception...to a fantastic room service lady who's name I can't remember but was most obliging for all the milk jugs we requested for tea in the room!!
A special mention for Elena in the Garden Restaurant...she knows her stuff and was excellent ..as was the Restaurant Manager.
The Grand is a " grand old hotel" and yes some of the rooms are a tad dated,but I'd suggest spoil yourself and upgrade to a seaview suite...fab.
Thanks to everyone for making our visit so special on what was a special anniversary.
See you again soon
James & Angela

Enjoyable but expensive

We were fortunate that we had nice weather, so we were able to sit outside on the veranda to enjoy afternoon tea. We had pre-booked, but that seemed unnecessary, given the number of clientele present, although in the high season this would potentially be a wise precaution.

It was quite expensive as afternoon teas go, at nearly £30 a head, but the sandwiches were freshly made, and scones, clotted cream and jam were delicious.

The selection of cakes and tartlets were also varied and tasty.

Service, for the most part, was attentive and friendly, although I would have expected perfection with a 5* hotel.

The ambience might be a little 'stuffy' for some, especially inside, but outdoors it was more relaxed.

Parking was a bit of an issue, as empty places out the front of the hotel had all been reserved for arriving guests later that day, and if parking on the road directly outside, there is a charge.

A nice place to experience a typical English tradition, albeit expensive ...

We had a wonderful family Sunday lunch celebrating a Golden Wedding anniversary at The Garden Restaurant from driving in and having the car parked for us, to having pre lunch drinks in a comfortable lounge we felt spoilt and special. Our lunch order was taken while indulging in the snacks placed before us, the starters were all delicious as was the main courses of roast beef and chicken with Madeira sauce. The sweet trolley looked very enticing and the profiteroles, cheese plate, cheese cake and chocolate torte were all very good, although the chocolate torte was very rich and couldn't be finished. A lovely touch of Happy Anniversary written on the top of the plate in chocolate was a very thoughtful thing to do. All the staff we encountered were excellent, parking the car, pouring the beer, taking our orders for lunch to service, couldn't fault anything. Would definitely return in the future. An alround wonderful experience for a special occasion.

After we had parked and walked into the hotel I wanted to laugh. I didn't realise hotels like this still existed. The staff were very welcoming and very efficient throughout our stay. Lovely large rooms and high ceilings but definitely in need of an upgrade as the interior is very dated and tired. The lighting in the bedroom was not conducive to reading, neither in the armchair nor in bed. Lots of cupboard and drawer space. Lovely view. The bar staff were excellent and the dinner was good but definitely not top class. Breakfast was a bit disappointing - sliced bread is a bit passe. Most places now have artisan bread? The mushrooms were steamed but the scrambled egg was okay. Beautiful large dining room which was very busy for a Monday morning. The old-fashioned atmosphere was rather nice and brought back memories of my childhood.

Daughter invited us to afternoon tea with brother and wife visiting from US.
Sons wife suitably impressed with decor, service and food.
I did have trouble trying to attract waitresses attention for more coffee. Think it may have been where we were seated in the room by the bar.
However, this was my second 'tea' here, both as a guest so can't comment on value for money.
Overall very nice.

The hotel is lovely we stayed over the august bank holiday. Room nice but only a double bed. The photos on all the websites show a larger room. The service on the whole is good. The only big let down was the breakfast I think they had problem coping with the number of people, but I don't think it should be my problem. 2 days running they had virtually nothing in the self service,I did complain twice. This hotel prides it self on 5 star but been to basic bed and breakfast with better breakfast. Nice outside and inside pools and plenty of nice areas to have afternoon tea.

....and it is truly grand! My husband and I stayed for 1 night having finished walking the South Downs Way and loved its' old style seaside grandeur. The room and bathroom was immaculate and beautifully furnished. We ate in the Garden restaurant and both had lamb which was perfectly cooked and served in 'old colonial style' with silver platters and attentive waiters - what a treat! All the staff were extremely helpful and friendly - as we were walking although we had brought with us some smart clothes, my husband had not brought a tie or jacket - this is preferred in the restaurant. Breakfast was buffet style or you could order from the kitchen. Wonderful experience and we will be returning.

Very helpful staff. Sat in the Great Hall a full gluten-free afternoon tea for one friend and a vegetarian for another. All delicious and beautifully served. Light piano music in the background plenty of cake and cream. Very enjoyable.

Had a wonderful stay during the Air show week. Everything was perfect. Very nice Spa and pool. Stunning building in a breath-taking setting. A special thank you to the kid's club team and Chris the Concierge.

I stayed here in August with my partner and our son, 21 months. We stayed three nights.

This is a traditional, old fashioned English seaside hotel, full of character, original features and old fashioned service. I thought it was a beautiful old building.

When we arrived the concierge showed us to a parking space and helped carry our bags in. He put them on a trolley and took them to our room. Because the hotel was busy some cars were double parked but the concierges had all the keys and were happy to move the cars about if you wanted to get out.

We had an Executive Room which was a good size. The sleeping area had a double bed, large chest of drawers, tv cabinet, bedside tables and a floor standing electric fan as there is no air conditioning. There was a hospitality tray with a kettle and a Nespresso Machine which I couldn't get to work, maybe it was broken. They were not very generous with the supplies, only two sachets of coffee and three pods for the machine. The biscuits were nice.

There was a separate dressing area with a large double wardrobe and dressing table. We requested an iron and ironing board from reception which was delivered to our room.

The bathroom was bigger than our spare bedroom! The shower was very good and Molton Brown toiletries were provided. Bathrobes were provided for all three of us, our son looked really cute in his baby robe. He did get a Grand Hotel bath duck to take home but we had to ask for it at reception as housekeeping had forgotten to leave one in the room when we arrived. The adults get slippers! We did request a changing mat when we booked but we never got one so we just used a towel. It was nice that a set of towels was left for the baby as many hotels don't think of this.

A Mothercare travel cot was provided along with a fleece baby blanket but the cot was made up with a double bed sheet, not sure how safe all the material would be for a smaller baby. I removed the sheet and just used the blanket to lie on as my baby had a sleeping bag.

There is a turndown service and ours was done early while we were at dinner. Bottled water is provided but it is not chilled.

Breakfast was confusing. There was a small selection of what I call "boring cereal", healthy stuff like muesli and corn flakes but I couldn't see anything for the kids like Frosties or Coco Pops. Hot drinks and toast are ordered at your table when you are seated. There is a good selection of cold drinks, pastries, fruit, cheese, smoked salmon, bread rolls etc to help yourself to. On our first morning we were told to order our eggs from the waiting staff when ready. When the eggs arrived we went up to the buffet to help ourselves to the other cooked breakfast items. On our second morning we were told we could order the whole breakfast to come from the kitchen if we wanted. There was a good choice of hot items, bacon, sausage, black pudding, fried bread, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms....... I did find it quite annoying having to get up from the table and having to go and tell a member of staff that we were ready to order our eggs now.

We had dinner on two of the nights. We went to the early family dining. The three course meals were lovely and the staff didn't seem to mind our baby making a mess and playing with everything on the table! Service was brilliant on the Friday evening but a let down on the Saturday - the waitress took the bottle of squash away because we had a baby and no child but I was drinking the squash with my water the night before and thought it was delicious. A drinks order was not taken when we arrived, we were not offered a wine list and our starters arrived before our wine so we couldn't have a toast. Unlimited bread and butter was served with the meal, you don't get that very often these days.

We visited the playroom with our son. We were expecting just a room with some toys but it is actually staffed and you can leave your child there for a couple of hours if you like so it's more a crèche. We only went in for a quick look so we stayed with our son while he played with a few things.

Both the swimming pools and the gym looked good but we didn't have time to use them.

The staff in this hotel are all very friendly and helpful and all look like they really enjoy working there.

I absolutely loved staying in this hotel. The traditional, old fashioned style of it and the wonderful staff. I hope it doesn't change. Sadly we didn't get to spend much time there because we came for the Airshow but I'm keeping my fingers crossed we can stay again next year!

I stayed with my three children in a master suite for four nights at a cost of almost £2000.
The suite had an amazing view out to sea and to the outdoor pool.
The outdoor pool is lovely when opened up and my kids loved it. On the rainy days we used the indoor pool and oh my goodness, the atmosphere is horrific. My kids are all grown up and were extremely quiet-not a peep. They just swam and had their own quiet fun and yet the intimidating looks we got from the club members was astonishing. I could even hear them muttering among themselves how annoying it is to be among kids. I understand the hotel attracts a lot of set in their ways old fashioned minded wannabe aristocracy.
Still after forking out £2000, we shouldn't have had to feel that way. Who whispers in a swimming pool? - my kids had to!!
I think the health club changing room is very run down and in total need of an upgrade.
The food was really beautiful and breakfast as usual was the best.
The waiter service is not great in the garden restaurant. We waited too long to have our orders taken and way too long between courses. Otherwise the hotel is beautiful, which has lots of splendour and charm. Drinks and food are very expensive but that's what comes with staying at somewhere like the Grand. It's my favourite hotel apart from some of the super snobbish quests.

Went the for a friends retirement, very nice food and good service as it would be for a 5 star Hotel, Staff all very helpful very clean. to stay here a night around £190. 00. The waiters look very young.

Stayed at the Grand for two nights for the airshow. We arrived on a Thursday and we're lucky enough to get a free parking space outside. The backup is valet parking offsite. Great hotel and our exec suite was wonderful. We ate out so no good report. Must come back.

We went here for a light lunch. The lounge where we had it was beautful. Not too busy. My partner got a black coffee and thought half a cup was ridiculous for £4.95!!! He was asked if he would like some french fries with his soup and sandwich.He said yes.but they never arrived!! Think we were asked 3 times if everything was ok. He had forgotten about french fries by this time. Staff were all very smartly dressed. Bathrooms were beautiful! So were most of the cars parked outside. I love going to visit lovely hotels wherever i go.

Expensive treat. We arrived and did not realise it was the 911 event directly opposite the hotel which was a plus really. We where greeted start away and the car parked. Luggage taken to the room and off loaded with some detail about the hotel, of course we tipped him. It truly is a grand entrance. After our journey down we decided to stay and have a sandwich each which was pricey in a pricey 5 star hotel. Sitting the the lounge area listening the Jazz band was simply wonderful. We decided we would have our first nights evening meal at the hotel. We sat at 7.30 and by 8.10 we still had not been tended to except for a bottle of wine. Eventually we had to ask. All this aside the food was great. We did complain and one meal was refunded so you cant ask better than that. The breakfast for the two morning was very good everything you really needed. The outside pool got very busy as it was hot and there was no where near enough loungers or chairs to accommodate people. With pool surrounded in paving you could not even lie on the floor. Something that needs to be addressed. Overall our stay was pleasant.

We had an absolutely wonderful 4 night stay here. Beautiful room.'c amazing food, and the facilities were great. All the staff were so courteous and polite, which contributed to an amazing family holiday.

Wonderful to stay right on the sea front and yet it seems peaceful and quiet. The hotel has impressive public rooms, the outdoor pool was lovely and indoor pool and spa was nice as well. Our room had a spacious seating area which was great. Breakfast was very good indeed as well. All in all, an excellent stay. I would say that the evening meal is expensive at list price.

Visited today for a cream tea. No complaints at all about the service or the food - all excellent
Had a voucher given as a birthday present and were shown to our reserved table. Choice of about 10 or 12 teas to choose from. The tea was brought first and poured out for us
Selection of sandwiches, cakes and scone (still warm) were brought and all food was very tasty

Stayed at the Grand for a short Easter break and couldn't be happier. Our room was small but clean and very comfortable. The onsite facilities were pleasant and the leisure facilities a quiet added bonus. Only downside is that they didn't have a bed big enough for our staffy companion but she made do! The doggy dinners looked quite appetising so I am sure she didn't mind the just big enough bed. From the moment we pulled up all staff we came into contact with were very friendly and accommodating and the dinner we had at the onsite restaurant was well cooked and flavoursome. The ambience is what made me fall in love with this hotel and want to visit again soon. The high ceilings and well thought out design of the grounds makes The Grand an inviting, warming and welcoming place. For my first stay in a 5* I cannot say I have any major hang ups worth mentioning and for the light sleeper I am our 2 nights were very peaceful and worth the money. It wasn't warm enough for us to take advantage of the outdoor pool although it looked very inviting and we unfortunately did not have the time to venture the pool room but my friend used the gym and I used the spa facilities with him, only downside to that was the saunas are located in the gender specific changing rooms so no chance of hanging together whilst getting a quick steam.

The public rooms are definitely commensurate with the 5* rating - very well proportioned, well maintained and exactly what you would ask for from a 5* hotel. The lounge was a particularly nice space for a light lunch or cocktail (extensive cocktail menu).
The service is good with well trained and attentive staff.
Weaknesses - oh dear the breakfast - Fine if you want traditional cereal / toast / cooked breakfast (buffet or freshly cooked - very nice) but none of the more modern options. I have stayed in many big hotels in London and internationally and the breakfast buffet at the Grand was basic. The fruit was dominated by watermelon - no strawberries, no blueberries - and this was Summer. I had the porridge one day - if I had been in Pret or Starbucks or anywhere I would have been offered a range of toppings - not at the Grand - it came with hot milk and the option of a long walk back to check out the possibilities on the buffet or add sugar or honey from the table.
The room was similarly nice on a traditional basis but a bit light on modern facilities like sockets. The bathroom would have been fine at a lower price, but you don't really expect a shower inside the bath at Sea View Suite prices.
It is a good hotel with many pluses and a nice atmosphere, but needs a little modernising.

There really is only one place to stay in Eastbourne for the Airbourne International Air Show - and that's the Grand! Expensive yes, but the service and facilities are top class and you really do get what you pay for. The staff are imbued with old-world courtesies and the whole experience is a delight from the moment the concierge staff take custody of your car keys. The only hitch we had was at breakfast on Saturday morning when our tea and toast order was lost and we waited a long time to attract the attention of a waitress to sort it our. The restaurant was extremely busy but on Sunday morning, order was well and truly restored. I also very much enjoyed the outdoor swimming pool. Very relaxing. Another excellent stay...

Stayed again for Eastbourne Airborne. Fabulous location for viewing the flying for the four day display. The hotel have it down to a fine art, with plenty of staff delivering great service. Breakfast was delightful with loads of choice of fruit, pastries, full English, cereals, cheese, meats, fish options. Nothing was too much trouble and any requests were dealt with quickly and politely. Great room with separate lounge/dining area with panoramic views of the coast. Cleaned every day to a great standard. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend The Grand and have enjoyed many stays now.

I booked this hotel, last minute via a third party website. I managed to get the very last double room in all of Eastbourne, (according to my searches), which was at the Grand. We weren't expecting views etc given it was the last room in the Grand itself, and it was Airborne Weekend, Eastbourne's busiest weekend.

However on arrival we found our room most acceptable, (given the circumstances), but what stood out immediately was how friendly, courteous and helpful the staff were. From meeting the reception on our arrival Saturday night at 11pm, to the Maitre D at breakfast on Sunday morning, and the restaurant staff that we encountered - all so very warm.

In fact every staff member we came across was exceptionally polite and courteous and helpful. Our one night stay was made that much more pleasant as a result. Being a man who will most definitely complain, I had nothing to complain about on this trip. So much so that we even ended up booking our Christmas stay with them! And we hope that if they maintain that level of customer service for our Christmas 4 day retreat then we are in for a splendid time!

Thank you all for such a pleasant and comfortable stay.

When I was a small girl ( a long time ago - in the 1970s) I stayed at the Grand with my family many times - and at that time it was one of the UK's best luxury hotels, with a timeless quality about it, catering perfectly for every generation, from young kids to very "senior" guests. Fast forward 20 or 25 years and I went back several times with my young family, expecting the same enduring quality but found service levels were dropping more and more to the point when about 10 years ago we stopped going.

For a variety of reasons we returned this Summer and the place is transformed! The Grand still has that reassuring feel - nothing changes fast and why should it? - but service was back up to the old high standards, making it an excellent option for families looking for a luxurious break on the South coast - lots of interesting places to visit nearby too.

Also, most unusually, it still has an outdoor pool (as well as an indoor one), which I especially like.

The Grand is a grande dame - she has big bones, wide corridors and solid pillars and walls - you're unlikely to hear the guests next door. It occupies a perfect position on the sea front and is a glorious-looking white confection. True to its type, the Grand is not modern or modish. The suites are unashamedly "classic" in style but they are superbly-proportioned, well cared for, extremely comfortable with generous terraces, overlooking the sea.

On the weekend we stayed, the weather gods were kind and treated us to a vista from our comfy chairs on our private terrace that was more like the sea view in Miami than the English Channel - the usually grey seascape glittered tantalisingly and gorgeously bright under an azure, cloudless sky. Even the pebbles on the beach looked welcoming.

Customer service was very good and prompt. There are now many more staff than they used to have - even at breakfast when they were busy, service was brisk and capable.

I would also mention that if they are not absolutely booked out, they offer the ability to extend your check out (for an hourly fee). We thought this was brilliant, as it enabled us to stay in our suite for an extra 3 hours before going to the opera at Glyndebourne (about 30 mins' drive).

We will definitely return, and always to one of the large suites.