My wife daughter and I stayed here one night during the recent half term break.
The hotel has an impressive frontage and is certainly the most eye-catching along the Eastbourne sea-front.

The public areas are ornate and comfortable and the staff is well drilled and polite.

Our bedroom was large, comfortable and clean and looked as though it had been recently refurbished, albeit in a dated style.

Due to our daughter feeling poorly in the evening, we elected to have room-service dinner. This proved to be the highlight of our stay; very good quality and quantity (although £34 for a £7.80 bottle of wine was a tad opportunistic).

But 5-star? Sadly, there were too many negatives:

- The bar has eye-watering prices (ticking the 5-star price box). On arrival we had a late bar lunch. My club sandwich was very good (and pricey) but my wife's £12 (!) tuna sandwich was scandalous - the tuna paste couldn't have been more than a millimetre thick. When we complained, the replacement better met our expectations.

- There is no air conditioning in the bedrooms, despite there being large ceiling voids that would typically house ducts and fans; 5-star?

- Said ceiling voids acted 'boom boxes', amplifying knocks and scrapes from the room above.

- The bedroom doors are heavy and slam shut, very noisily; easily the worst case that I can recall in recent years. That 'insensitive' guests lack consideration in this regard, when coming and going, is annoying. However, when hotel staff permit the doors to slam shut (late into the evenings and early in the morning) is unforgivable, in any hotel, let alone a 5-star establishment.

- There is no mini-bar in the room; 5-star?

- Be warmed, the bedrooms windows are single glazed - our room, on the second floor, overlooked a busy motorcycle bay (by the way, our windows were externally filthy).

- Breakfast was taken in the vast formal restaurant. This was the low-point. The buffet counters were disproportionately small for such a large turn-out of guests, and poorly stocked. When I went to the hot food counter I had the last scoop of beans, the last sausage and the last two pieces of water-logged mushroom (this at 9.40am, when breakfast continues to be served until 10.00am). The Continental Breakfast counter was even more ludicrous, with very limited choice; small chewy croissants and an indistinguishable, tasteless pastry. All style, no substance.

We weren't expecting miracles from Eastbourne in February, but we were hoping for a little bit more from this hotel.

Just one night was enough to recharge my batteries by swimming in the indoor pool and having a cocktail in the evening. The room was very comfortable, with a welcome coffee machine and huge bed. Very member of staff I encountered was friendly and welcoming.

Excellent hotel.
Very happy with everything from arrival to departure.
Would not hesitate to recommend this hotel to our friends.
We hope to be able to return and enjoy the excellent food and comfort of your hotel.

This hotel is faultless whilst delivering an exemplary 5 star holiday package in style. From the moment that you enter the carpark and are greeted by the concierge team you will not be disappointed. Nothing is too much trouble.

All the staff made us very welcome, very comfortable stay in a great location. It was a treat for my husbands birthday and we will definitely stay again in the future. Would recommend more vegetarian options for breakfast but very good food generally

Everything was organised very well. The rooms chosen were ideal for the occasion and all guests were very satisfied. The two meals one Garden Restaurant and one Private dining were very enjoyable and fulfilled our requirements.

As a guest of almost 50 years and my son for 30 we live The Grand. It’s like visiting your favourite Grandmotger. So very British, a unique charm, it has everything traditionally that is now sadly missing with many hotels. Don’t ever loose that X factor that has made us both return time and time again.

We stayed overnight at The Grand as a treat and found the staff were wonderfully helpful and courteous but friendly too. The car park was jammed but the valets were brilliant and just took our keys and double parked the car until we needed it. We had a gentle afternoon tea in a very relaxed lounge and while we went out for dinner, our one night stay was restful and just what we needed. We will be back.

Had the Grand Hotel's afternoon tea recently. Was really looking forward to it as a special birthday treat with a friend. Whilst the service and staff were exemplarary, we were disappointed with the tea. We had a selection of four different sandwiches each but they were too thin, small and lacking in a decent amount of filling to be really tasty. We also had two scones each but all were plain. A couple of fruit scones would have been better. A selection of cakes were nice and bite size quiches were delicious. A good choice of teas was also available. At a cost of £37.50 each to include a glass of champagne it is not something we would repeat.

This was our fourth visit. It was a perfect 3 night winter break in lovely surroundings and exceptional staff. The rear deluxe room was quiet and met our expected standards. We enjoyed every minute of our stay.

Birthday evening , very delicious food , brilliant hospitality, very friendly I had a very good evening with my family , I can’t wait to visit again , one of my best evening I just loved it very much thank you guys

Fabulous hotel, great location, expensive but well worth it. We had a lovely large room with a sea view. The food for breakfast and the evening meal in the Garden Restaurant was excellent. All the staff were very helpful and welcoming. We really enjoyed our stay.

Unfortunately not quite up to scratch as a five star hotel.the service overall was pretty good,the room in my experience was a little dated,the location was ok for me,even though it was slightly out of town centre I found the walk was ok.The building was superb and most certainly five star in appearance,but overall the interior was certainly dated and slightly old fashioned

for the price we paid of 400 per room
at least have a good sleep - mattress is too soft and unlevel
carpet really dirty
chairs in tea room dirty
hope all this will be fixed , as the hotel location is amazing
but few things can spoil it

A warm welcome and excellent service from the doormen made us feel very special. The decor of the hotel is lovely, and the room was spacious, albeit a little too warm. The waiters in the bar area were really good too. It was very busy at breakfast, I feel there could have been more staff to cope with the number of people. In the room, like all hotels, never enough "normal" teabags and toilet rolls! Lovely to have an espresso machine though as the coffee sachets were just normal Nescafe. Overall a lovely holiday and great service.

Me and my girlfriend are big fans of Elite group, We went to Luton Hoo and we were mesmerised by the service and attention to detail. We picked The Grand hoping it will also exceed our expectations given the groups reputation, The Spa is very average and tired./ word down/ needs work. Not well kept! The restaurant is good but the food served in lounge is very very dissapointing, had the pasta with meatballs, meatballs were dry and frozen for a while!!

Very Basic, The room was lovely, some staff were nice, we had spa access for two days, just to be disspointed and when we went to Spa we found out it was closed for some works!!!!!! didnt appreciate that, Should have been compensated since the purpose of the visit was to have a relaxing Spa day. Plus the staff in Spa on treated us like its our fault for not being aware that the Spa is closed!! couldnt book treatment!!

Overall expectations were really not met, its a shame because given the area we really would like to return!!!

Myself and my partner stayed overnight and were very very impressed! Enormous room, hot powerful shower, and one of the most comfortable beds I've ever slept in!

Staff were very friendly and helpful, and the place itself is rather pretty, full of old charm. It's a touch worn-down in places (most notably the spa, which could do with a lick of paint and some of the worn-out elements replacing) but extremely nice to wander around. And right on the beach-front too, making for some cracking sunrises!

The only problem I had was that the dinner in the Garden restaurant wasn't particularly warm - in fact it was stone cold by the time we were 1/2way through, which wasn't too impressive. A pity, but otherwise a fantastic trip!

Recently stayed at the grand for a romantic get away with my other half. Amazing staff all very friendly and we felt as if they would do anything to help! Unfortunately our tv didn’t work (weak signal) so we called reception who sent someone up to have a look within 5 minutes - unfortunately this couldn’t be fixed so we were moved rooms within 10 minutes. As I said, cannot fault the staff!

There was someone staying across the hall that had a dog with them so this was very irritating as it seemed to bark every 5 minutes, also with it being an old buildings the floor boards were very noisy so you can hear every step someone makes outside the door!

There was no parking available at the hotel itself as it was just too busy so we had to park up the road - this meant getting up at 8am on a Sunday to buy a parking ticket!

everything was great as usual. We made use of the special offer and had a room with a view of the sea. we will certainly visit again. The staff are always good and the one thing I love about the Grand is that you do not have music anywhere except in the evening. As it was Friday night you had the dancing and music which was great and next time we will know in advance an take part. Please do not be tempted to have music as the peace was great.

A superb classic good old fashioned hotel where they do everything to make you comfortable. Staff is nice and friendly, and the rooms and atmosphere take you sort back in time where you can indulge yourself with excellence in every sense of the word.

The hotel was excellent, the staff encountered very friendly, the room was very comfortable and clean.I would prefer a served breakfast but most hotels are self service nowadays. I never recommend anything to anyone but offer an opinion.

I can't comment on the hotel as we didn't stay, but instead came with friends for morning coffee. This was an absolute treat and well worth the money. We sat in the Lounge overlooking the seafront. The room itself is beautifully decorated, in a
very traditional style and a reminder of bygone times with its grandeur.
The staff were very welcoming, attentive, but discreet. The menu offers some lovely choices and might appear expensive, but for a one-off it is worth every penny. The tea and coffees were excellent, served with a very tasty homemade shortbread biscuit. The hot chocolate was to die for. We were treated like very honoured guests and loved every minute of it. At no point did we feel rushed or ignored - that in itself is a fine balancing act. Thank you for a wonderful experience.
If you are in Eastbourne and would like to experience the very best the town has to offer for a relaxing coffee, I would highly recommend a visit.

spent a very nice couple of days at the Grand. We have now visited all 4 Elite Hotels all of which provide excellent food and service. Breakfast was excellent with a wide choice at the buffet with matching excellent service by the staff. The same applies for the Dinner and my wife was delighted with the Vegitarian menu.

As always we enjoyed our recent visit . We find the beds too hot even though we had the heating turned off. This means we don’t sleep as well. The meals were excellent. My husband had two massages which were fine . I had two also but found the first massage more beneficial than the second. We will be returning again. The room 300 was lovely.

Lovely hotel with great facilities, whether you’re on a romantic break or with the family. The staff are very friendly and helpful and there’s lots to do including a great health club and spa, snooker and table tennis. Eastbourne beach and town centre are also on the doorstep. Superb break.