For a change we decided to go to the Grand at Eastbourne for our Easter Lunch. In the past we have been to sister hotel The Ashdown Park Hotel and The South Lodge which were both fantastic.
There was no available parking at the Grand as it was so busy but we managed to find a space on a side street less than two minutes walk away.
A very pleasant welcome and we were quickly shown to our table.
We decided to go for the set menu which had quite a good choice.
The service was just about ok. The people were all great but the food was just a little slow in arriving however for such a busy day quite acceptable. The food was hot, tasty with the portions being a very good size.
All in all a very good experience. Will go again at some point.

We have stayed at this hotel about six times now. This time was for a birthday weekend, yet again , everything was fantastic. Beautiful clean hotel, attentive friendly staff in all departments, and the best food. Well done The Grand

We just love this place..we have been going here for several years and have always been looked after exceedingly well...the bar is really nice and well stocked, the staff know there stuff...we ordered cocktails and were delighted with them... we eat in the garden room and had a lovely meal... will be back soon...I'm sure....

Looking for a spot to spend a couple of nights away from the big smoke during this unexpectedly scorching Easter break, we alighted on The Grand Hotel on the seafront in Eastbourne. The hotel is an incredible sight, a huge brilliant white imposing estate dominating the promenade. 'Grand' simply doesn't do it justice. The first thing to say is that the staff (a mix of English and Eastern European) were absolutely delightful - welcoming, always smiling, and nothing was too much trouble. On arrival, we were immediately upgraded due to a (long-forgotten) customer membership of the Small Luxury Hotels group (a hangover from our wedding a decade ago!) and so found ourselves in a master suite. This provided ample room for our kids to roam and, with a lounge room, separate sleeping for them too. Perfect! We had in-room breakfast twice ( the earliest time slot could benefit from being earlier than 7.30 for those with early-rising children) which was delicious (although Mrs Brownsauce's porridge was somehow omitted on the first morning). The indoor swimming pool is fine although not huge, but the outdoor is magnificent - heated to 30 and a cordoned-off shallow area for the smaller kids. The whole place looks a little dated, somewhat in sync with the majority of silver clientele but this is a place that does the traditional well. We ate dinner in the 'family dining' area within the Garden Restaurant - lovely food for us although not typical all-round childrens' choice at the buffet (fish pie, turkey roast, macaroni cheese). The wine was very good and served by the glass all the way down the list, a practice we wholeheartedly recommend. Our second night was spent in a local fish & chip restaurant which could not be faulted, although if you've been doing it for 40 years, there are no excuses! We had a brilliant time skimming stones from the pebble beach and then drove 10 mins away into the South Downs to take a walk down to Beachy Head and view the jaw-dropping white limestone cliffs.
All in all, a grand place to stay and, for us during Easter break, an incredible deal on the accommodation and activities.

We were concerned this would be fussy or old fashioned. It's neither. Understated attentive service and enough to keep the whole family happy all day. We were very glad we'd paid to reserve parking arriving on a sunny Saturday.

My partner brought me to this hotel as a special treat and booked a suite with a balcony - which was extremely expensive. The room itself was very tired and needed a complete refurbishment to a more contemporary, clean and modern style. The balcony was definitely in need of a paint job and clean of the green moss.
The service as you would expect from a 5 star hotel was exemplary and the dinner and breakfast were superb.
Maybe we are too young to be a typical guest and perhaps the regulars enjoy the dated decor.
A lot of money for what we actually got in summary.

I had simply the BEST time with my friends at this excellent hotel. From the moment I was found a parking space by the friendly staff member to the moment we checked out we were looked after so well. Everyone at the hotel couldn't do more for us, the rooms were spacious, the building was immaculately clean and the food wonderful. The back massage I had was marvellous and the swimming pool and spa really delightful. I can't wait to plan our next trip here.

Excellent hotel, that has managed to modernise without change the original character.
Room, bed etc was very comfortable, clean etc. WiFi did not really work, so typical of many hotels. Breakfast was good and traditional. Staff excellent.
HOWEVER, dress rules for both restaurants are unnecessary. The best restaurants in the world do not have these off putting restrictions.

We went to The Grand to celebrate our 2year anniversary and it was perfect.
The hotel is traditional but perfectly kept.
I am fussy and it was spotless as was our bedroom and bathroom.
The staff couldn't do enough for you.
We had cocktails in the lounge and they were to die for, I could have stayed all night and gone through the menu!!!
We had dinner in the Garden Restaurant and it was delicious!
We have already said we'd visit again, however next time request a sea view room.
Definitely worth a visit as right on the coast and we had such a lovely walk whilst the sun was out. Really lovely place to visit and Eastbourne was so clean.

My husband and I hiked the Seven Sisters trail from Seaford and found this to be a nice retreat at the end of the walk. It is a one mile walk from the end of the trail. Hotel is beautifully situated on the water and elegant. We needed to leave early the following day, before breakfast is served. They packaged up a to go breakfast with warm pastries, coffee and fruit which was very nice. It is a high end hotel and this was evident by the cars parked out front, maid uniforms, tea room and the general atmosphere. Only point of criticism was our room and bed were very dated. The bed had been used so much that the head of the bed was lower than the bottom. Carpet was very old. We asked for and promptly received additional pillows to shore it up. They are renovating so I expect they are addressing this. Otherwise, a very nice hotel.

We were treated to afternoon tea at The Grand Hotel and were really impressed by the ambience of the room, the light piano music and the attentive waiting staff. However, when the tea arrived - we were rather disappointed. The liquid tea was fine, a good selection and we had 2 pots each, so plenty, but the food was another matter. 4 triangular sandwiches each, these were very tasty, so no complaint there. The scones, what a joke! The smallest specimens I have ever seen in my entire life, like something out of a failed cookery class! They looked like hockey pucks. I find it hard to believe that a pastry chef was responsible for creating those. Then there were 4 "pastries" - all different so we had to fight between us which one to have. They didn't look very homemade either. For a hotel such as this, I expected much more. The food looked cheap and miserly. Come on Grand - you can do better than this! Won't be rushing back. I recommend The Ritz in London, you get your money's worth there

The Grand is beautiful bright white hotel next to the sea, especially elegant and was a great stay for one night.

We booked a stay with dinner and a spa package, which all in all was superb. We arrived early and left our bags while we took a walk around the beach. On our return everything was taken up to our room which was very spacious, well decorated and for a very old hotel, in great condition. The only downside was the lack of any view, even for a non sea view, it was mostly obstructed by a bit of the building that stuck out.

We had our massages and facials which were very good and also took a chance to use the swimming pool and sauna etc. Despite the facilities being well maintained, they were small, so the pool was a bit crowded and there weren't enough chairs around so we were not really able to use it to its full potential.

There was a choice between two restaurants, and we went for the more modern one. Even then, it felt extremely formal, with waiters wearing white tie and other diners all in suit and tie which did give a very strict atmosphere. The background piano was nice though. The food was generally very good, apart from the mains which were good but rather plain, boiled carrots and sugar-snap peas as vegetables, not what you'd expect from a modern place. Both the fish and chicken were a bit dry and lacked the finesse of the great starters. On the other hand, the chocolate parfait dessert was very good.

The buffet breakfast was great, with a wide selection and a high quality English breakfast which really makes or breaks a good hotel in the UK.

The staff were super friendly throughout, rushing our order of chips and onion rings (for a quick snack) as we were getting ready to go out. Overall, the hotel was excellent, with staff that clearly care. But next time I would be pickier with the room assigned and also for dinner.

We had dinner and a night at The Grand for my birthday . It was absolutely a wonderful experience from beginning to end .I had been seriously ill and needed a 'pick me up' and The Grand certainly delivered .
A lovely room with sea view , wonderfully comfortable bed ,very quiet and we both slept very well.
Dinner in The Mirabelle was very special wonderful food and the restaurant staff could not have delivered a better service . Everything was done to make us feel comfortable and enjoy the evening .superb breakfast next morning with every combination of breakfast food you could desire .
Well done The Grand we have a wonderful memory to treasure .

Visited on a quiet tusday night just for drinks, fabulous cocktails and very good attentive bar staff, Emily in particular was very good, it's a tad expensive but you get a great cocktail, maybe background music might be a good idea as it's very quiet in the cocktail. lounge, will visit again, maybe at the weekend when it's busier.

We spent a night at the Grand Eastbourne to celebrate a birthday. A very traditional old world hotel with lavish, if old fashioned soft furnishings. The standard deluxe rooms are reasonable with original sash windows that rattle make sure to get wedge from reception. No air con so probably very hot in rooms in the summer. Great location if you like walking less than a mile to the start of many Beachy Head walks. London prices for drinks but it is claimed to be 5*. Service was good reserved parking at £25 quite expensive. The only real disappointment is the breakfast, serve yourself out of heated containers luke warm as is always the case with this, better breakfasts at budget hotels and definitely not 5*. A nice hotel but overstated at 5*

We stayed here for a birthday treat having had several previous visits over the past few years but noticed that there has been a general decline in standards and quality. I was booked in to the spa for some treatments and my husband was called as i was on my way down there, to see where i was. They told him that i should have been there 10 minutes earlier than the time we were told. When i arrived there, 5 minutes earlier than the time we were told, I was told in no uncertain terms that i was late. The first treatment was then shortened to compensate for the time difference. There had been a complete lack of coordination about getting in to the room in order me to be ready for the spa. Spa was quite drab and far too hot and the receptionist was very blunt.
The pricing policy of the restaurant borders on a rip off. Any extras were ridiculously priced as a supplement and spoilt the enjoyment. The waitress got our meals mixed up and the same waitress at breakfast the next day , was very loud when she called across the restaurant to a colleague about where to seat a family. This is not what you would expect at the grand.
To top all this , we had booked an executive suite with a seaview but when we opened the curtains in the morning to enjoy the sunshine and sea view, we were confronted with a builder who was on scaffold on the floor below but was looking over the balcony straight into our room!. On hurriedly closing the curtains and getting dressed we went downstairs to complain. We had breakfast and went back to the room to read the paper in the sunshine , only to find that there were now 2 builders working on our balcony rail. On complaining again , the duty manager assured my husband that he had spoken to the builder after the first incident and didn't seem to believe that the builders were still there. My husband had to practically drag him outside to show him where the builders were! To be offered a £50 reduction off the cost of the suite was an insult ! We were offered an upgrade for our next visit which doesn't cost them anything. Very disappointing.

Impressive white building .. the only 5 star seaside hotel in England..
this spledid establishment with lovely staff will always impress.
All the usual hotel facilities with indoor and out door swimming pool, spa, many lounges, restaurants and a bar.
Exceptional hospitality wether just having a drink or booking in for the night.
I would say that the internal decor could do with a little refresh, but the style is ' traditional ' and in keeping with the building.

Generally extremely good. Birthday dinner for 15 was simple and professionally served. Food all came out at the same time and was lovely and hot.

Tea was a little odd with a rather non traditional menu offering jam sandwiches accompanied with cold mushroom soup. Not the best combination. The tea was also not served as hot as it should have been. A warmed pot would have made all the difference.

Cream tea afternoon followed by a swim. Fantastic meal and spent the night in a junior suite and breakfast this morning.

Check in was smooth and without issue.

Cream tea was ok but nothing fancy (definitely not Fortnum and Masons) however the service was good and the hotel very busy due to it being Mother's Day.

Pool was ok but very cloudy water made swimming rather difficult. Very small in size but the changing facilities were good, take a £ for the locker.

Dinner in the garden restaurant was delicious although the service was rather slow (and the restaurant rather empty) however the meal was interspersed nicely with pallet cleansers, a very nice touch.

The room was large and the bathroom very large. On the whole the hotel requires an overhaul esp the bathrooms which sadly have showers over the bath. Bedding etc were very good quality and thankfully the windows opened as the entire hotel is boiling hot.

Breakfast was the only disappointment with my poached eggs taking so long to arrive that the rest of my buffet breakfast was nearly finished.

The reason for four stars instead of five is based not on the hotel but on its clientele. Sadly at breakfast we witnessed clients clicking their fingers to gain the attention of staff and speak in raised voices in what can only be described as deeply racist remarks about the heritage of the waiter.I appreciate this is a traditional hotel and money speaks however this horrible couple should have been thrown out and banned. Such a shame to have to experience the class system up and running at its very worst.

Stayed at the Grand hotel in Eastbourne after a function within the hotel. The main rooms of the hotel are sumptuously furnished as you'd expect for a 5* hotel, likewise the drinks are 5* hotel priced (London excepted!) Furniture is well worn but it does fit in with the bygone age of 'elegant Eastbourne'. The hotel room we had was large, bathroom was extremely nice, lots of marble. The bedroom though - carpet had seen better days and the furniture was again well worn. The bed was quite the worst I have slept in for a good many a year. Travelodge or Premier Inn beds are much superior. Perhaps the hotel is due a refit, if it isn't in the plan then it should be. The hotel and grounds are excellent but the fixtures and fittings do need some modernisation. We had breakfast booked but because we had had that bad a nights sleep we checked out and drove home before breakfast was even open. Didn't use the facilities so cannot comment. Would I stay here again, I doubt it especially if I'm paying, you can find equal for £30 night and better for £50-60, to me the hotel isn't worth £150 per night. Maybe we had a bad room - I don't know.

stayed in good sized room, with side sea view. No fridge but had one delivered which whilst small served purpose. Book evening meal externally so only had breakfast. This was fine and service good. The drinks are pricey but as you would expect for a 5 star. The hotel has changed little since my last visit 32 years ago. I would expect this is the best hotel in Eastbourne and does tick all boxes. I would recommend this hotel. The health spa a little basic but pool is a good size.

We booked into the Grand for a overnight stay as a treat as we regularly stay in Eastbourne to visit family and I had never stayed at the Grand.

We booked via Small Luxury Hotels of the world for Dinner Bed & Breakfast and thanks to booking with them them we received an upgrade on arrival.

The staff were all very nice and the room was nice a little disappointing that there were no bathrobes. We went down to use the pool which was a good size for a hotel leisure pool, the steam room was very good but the Jacuzzi was very poor, the sauna was single sex so not able to enjoy together.

We booked to have dinner in the Mirabelle restaurant based on the reviews we had read, the ambiance was very nice and the staff very attentive but the food was very definitely nothing more than ok. the fact that the food was delivered very quickly after ordering indicated that it was mostly pre-prepared, it was lacking in flavour and the vegetables to accompany my lamb main course were overcooked. The saving grace was the cheeseboard which was excellent (no cooking involved) even my licquor coffee was lacking in coffee taste along with the smallest serving of Amaretto my partner has ever been served and the most expensive.

Breakfast was again nothing more than average, left under heating lamps I ordered a poached egg which was overcooked the bacon had spent too long under the lights and was again overcooked.

Overall the experience was not what I had expected and been so looking forward to, I will in future return to our tried and trusted hotel at a third of the price on our family visits. The wifi although free was very slow.

4th March A gift from my sons ...highly recommended. A wonderful hot stone massage ….amazing ! Really helped my shoulders unknot! Parked easily on hotel front ....If you have the time why not stay for a coffee/ refreshments on the sun terrace or lounge.

We visited Eastbourne to attend a friend's wedding which coincided with a birthday for one of us; so a good reason to push the boat out and enjoy an expensive 3 night weekend at The Grand.
The public spaces are large and well proportioned and the bedrooms are comfortable and well equipped (see further comment below). The health spa, pool and steam room etc, was also a bonus.
From arrival to departure the staff were fantastic and looked after us extremely well; a constantly high level of discrete attention is assured at all times (this is of course the primary criteria in ranking any hotel). For example on the Friday evening I left my spectacles in our room and realised that I would struggle to read the menu at my birthday dinner in their attractive Garden restaurant so I mentioned this to the concierge who promptly arranged for someone to recover my glasses from our room and deliver them to me at the bar.
We are not difficult guests for a hotel but we are a little particular; the reason we haven't awarded them 5 stars (it would deserve 5 stars except for the 2 minor gripes which I will mention), for example firstly the wifi wasn't working at all in our room and when I mentioned this at reception they said that they would fix it while we were out. Upon return I asked and was told that it had been fixed but when we returned to our room it was still the same, the signal was non-existent. So we complained again and to their credit they room-moved us to a higher grade room but in all honesty the signal there was poor as well. Secondly, we enjoy Lapsang Souchong tea with breakfast and were told that they had it but once ordered this took a good while to arrive (over 30 mins on the second morning) at our table. It made us suspect that they had actually sent someone out to buy it for us which, again in fairness, would mean that their commitment to us was very high. But if not then it was just very slow service.
However, despite those two minor gripes the hotel clearly deserves a 'big tick' for the comfort and high levels of service we enjoyed during our Thursday to Sunday stay. It wasn't cheap at almost £200 per night plus expenses but the hotel most certainly gave us a memorable time and we recommend it to anyone who wants to enjoy the well recognised and old fashioned high standards of an English quality seaside hotel.
Save up and go there if you wish to mark an important event in your life.

The reservation for the seven of us was made by telephone with a charming and helpful lady called Luigina. During the conversation I mentioned that we were visiting Eastbourne to celebrate my wife's birthday. From the moment we arrived at the hotel we were made to feel really welcome by the Concierge team and at Reception my wife was given a birthday card. The bedrooms we were allotted were all excellent and my wife loved the Master Suite which was superb and recently refurbished. Although the hotel is undergoing much renovation work over the next couple of years this did not impinge on our enjoyment. The public rooms are very elegant and the family enjoyed the indoor pool and the Spa facilities. The Sunday lunch was beautifully cooked and presented and the piano accompaniment was appreciated. The Hotel is in an excellent location and parking on site wasn't a problem. We look forward to returning in the future.