Drakes

Drakes has something of a reputation as a hotel for lovers. We found the hotel mentioned on the great "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" website which specialises in finding cosy retreats for romantic weekends away. The staff seem to have wholeheartedly embraced the romance in the air and greet you with delighted smiles and indulgent looks. The hotel also offers a variety of arrival packages which include hand made chocolates, French champagne and even an “exotic boutique love hamper”.

Brighton is a wonderful city for a weekend away. It is small enough to wander around on foot and has delightful kitschy fun in the form of all the games and rides on the Pier, and the large scale kitsch of George IV’s personal palace the Pavilion – a madly over decorated take on a Moorish pleasure dome. The lanes are filled with classy coffee shops, bijou jewellers and hip clothes shops and the whole city has a metropolitan yet relaxed feel that can’t help but go to your head. We enjoyed fish and chips on the pier and went for jogs along the promenade in an attempt to ward off some of our excesses but we also spent a lot of time lapping up the luxury of Drakes.

The hotel is situated in a double fronted Georgian townhouse right on the foreshore. Sea facing rooms have superb views over the pier and the beach. The decor is subtle and comfortable – muted beiges and browns with, to use the hotel’s own words, “a splash of Indochine French colonialism and a touch of decadence.”

There are 20 rooms in the hotel and we were lucky to stay in the cream of the crop – the super king size circular room. This gorgeous suite had a free standing bath in the bay windows, which were still fitted with their original shutters. My only real complaint about Drakes is that the hotel ought to supply better bubble bath if they are going to provide such a fabulously comfortable two person tub. We spent a delightful evening drinking champagne in the bath and watching Guy Fawkes fireworks over the sea, with the occasional passing double decker bus threatening our modesty!

The bed in the suite was incredibly large and incredibly comfortable and there was a full wet room with a massive shower head. The hotel has a large library of DVDs so we spent one evening curled up watching Monty Python's "Holy Grail". We also enjoyed an in-room couples massage from a company recommended by the hotel.

Drakes has a small bar and a fine wine list including Krug and Dom Perignon. The restaurant is tucked into the basement and was recently named as the best Brighton restaurant by the Good Food Guide. Certainly we enjoyed a delicious evening meal there which has faded in my memory only due to the quantities of champagne consumed with it. Current offerings such as “Roast squab pigeon with wild mushroom ravioli, mountain lentils,turnip gratin and game sauce”, “Potato gnocchi with Devon blue cheese and fried parsley” and “Whole roast quail stuffed with dates on a coco bean cassoulet” make me very keen to go back! There is a five course tasting menu for a ridiculously cheap £50 a head that goes a long way towards winning the perennial “London versus Brighton” argument.

A testament to the service at this gorgeous boutique gem was that we felt like we were leaving friends by the time we checked out. I didn’t want to leave!