This hotel is situated in a brilliant location, right on the seafront and within a stone's throw of the pier, shopping in the Lanes and just about everything else in Brighton. Walking into the hotel, it is understated but very pleasant. A nice bar, the food in the restaurant was pretty good, and the staff were friendly and helpful.

Arriving at my room is where my experience took a nose dive. In my view, hotel rooms are either good (i.e. I would rather spend the night in that room rather than at home, because it's something special), or bad (i.e. I would rather be at home). Sadly the room here was bad. The room was too hot, with no air conditioning or temperature control which actually made it difficult to sleep. The carpet was a very dark colour, and I noticed what I thought at first was a stain near the bed. On further inspection, I don't think it was a stain - I think some furniture has recently been moved, revealing the original colour of the carpet - quite bright yellow, not deep brown. How lovely. The bed had a thick duvet, badly suited to the heat of the room and I couldn't find any single sheets or anything to use instead. The bed was generally comfortable apart from the pillows which were horrible and lumpy. The small CRT TV was poor for a hotel at this price. Walking into the bathroom, the grout between the tiles was badly stained and there were cracks in some places. There was a shower over the bath, with a simple white shower curtain. I noted that the bottom of the shower curtain is significantly discoloured right across the bottom (these things can be cleaned). The shower did work quite well, but the show curtain hung badly and as a result kept getting in the way and sticking to me. I could see the seafront and pier at an angle from my window, but sadly the window was very dirty, I wonder how many years its been since they were last cleaned.

Moving on to the noise issue. This is mentioned in other reviews. Due to the location of this hotel, there is significant noise from pub and club goers until well into the night. That's not all - I was in a room with an adjoining door into the next room, and I could hear every word spoken in the next room. Thankfully they were not apparently in Brighton for a 'dirty weekend'. Also, I could hear the lift in the corridor outside continuously, it sounded like I was staying inside a factory. Shame I forgot my earplugs.

In summary, the place is okay, worth staying here if you get a good deal on the room price. I certainly wouldn't stay at full price. Bring earplugs.

OK. I have given the Old Ship an above average rating because mostly it is. The exterior is a little plain apart from the garish red paint of the adjacent bar/restaurant area (why red??!) but manages to convey a sense of "Olde Shipe". The lobby area is a mass of old wood and comfy chairs giving a slight gentleman's club air which is no bad thing.
Check in was painless and our room (258) was a short journey by lift or stair. The lifts are a little unsettling in that they are "vintage" and quite jerky and bumpy in operation but seemingly reliable.
Our room seemed to be above the kitchen area but even so was not noisy. The room was reasonably sized and well decorated with a separate bathroom up three stairs. Bed was comfy and he shower was possibly the most powerful either of us had ever had the pleasure of using, think fireman hose in terms of water pressure!
The only real blot was the state of the windows in this room... I appreciate sea water quickly degrades paint and even over time wood but they were really awful. For a hotel with a **** rating it just is not right! The bedroom window had only one handle and felt loose almost to the point of falling out and the Bathroom was a seagull dropping covered cracked and chipped paint nightmare.
I really want to like the Old Ship more than I do but for the money you can do better and that is a shame because the Old Ship has bags of charm (and the breakfast 'aint bad either).

I have been staying on and off at this hotel since 1999. Reception staff are helpful - But this time maybe it was the seashell theme (shells on the swirly orange hall carpet and shell door handles on the bathroom), the cold room or the tinned gratefruit at breakfast - in future I think I deserve something better!

We had family visiting us over Easter and live in Brighton. We needed a good quality central hotel that would accommodate a family of 4, 2 adults,a 3 year old and a baby. I booked a family room at The Old Ship Hotel, for the bargain price of £89 incl of tax and breakfast. The room was very large, more than enough space for a double bed, single bed for the child and a cot. The room was really fine, and the breakfast was lovely. The hotel was quite empty due to a very wet, cold Easter weekend in Brighton, but I would really recommend this hotel, really good value for money, and very good service.