We have stayed at the Hydro Hotel in Eastbourne several times, and this year it was just as enjoyable as ever. Admittedly it does attract many older people, but we had small children with us who loved the swimming pool, the children's teas in the conservatory, and the safety and freedom of the lovely garden with its putting green.

This is a comfortable hotel, offering old-style service and excellent meals with the staff welcoming back guests who return every year.
A popular location for weddings, too.

We had a lovely relaxing break at the Hydo over the Bank Holiday August weekend. The Hydro has a lovely garden where we enjoyed reasonably priced tea and sandwiches brought out by a waiter. It has an outdoor swimming pool, a lovely conservatory and a chandelier lit restaurant. The breakfast was great - English cooked to order and also buffet with cereals, fruit etc.
Lots of places to sit around in this hotel. Books and scrabble and jigsaws too. OK the decor is a bit dated but rooms are clean and the hotel is in a great location, overlooking sea, plentiful of parking and lots to do just in the hotel itself. Would suit older people and those with young children. Staff are pleasant and helpful. We really loved it and would certainly come back here. The M family, Essex

I had to cancel one night of my stay a week prior to my stay. This was no problem for the hotel.

When I arrived I found that they had cancelled all of my booking. There were rooms available, so this was only a minor inconvenience.

I got to my single room which can only be described as a small cell with a small shower room off it.

The room was small, stuffy and very overheated with only a small window (overlooking a car park)to cool it.

The shower room was also small. The shower itself was placed upon a formica plinth whch was damp, mouldy, and the sharp corners of the formica were peeling off.

I spent my 10 miniute stay calling other hotels in the area to find out their availablity.

The only good thing about the hotel was the reception staff who agreed to honour their mistake in cancelling my whole stay.

Would absolutely not recomend this stuffy, oldie worldy hotel that works to outdated standards of what a hotel room should be!

This hotel appears to cater almost exclusively for the older guest. The public rooms are very pleasant and the reception staff polite and helpful. The room we stayed in had a sea view, which we paid extra for, and was adequate if slightly shabby. The bathroom was very small and poor. The biggest problem with the hotel is the restaurant. Breakfast was very good, hot and freshly cooked but dinner was very poor. It is a very large restaurant and dinner is served between 6.30 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. The first night we stayed there we arrived at 8.20 p.m. and were kept standing at the door for 10 mins. Eventually the head waiter was sent for who gave permission for us to be served with what I could only describe as a cold glutinous mess. The next evening we were served with a slightly warmer but still poor meal at 7.30 p.m. as the waiters rushed around setting the tables for breakfast. It was obvious that the food had been cooked for quite some time and the waiter admitted that the undrinkable coffee had been made more than an hour previously. All in all I would not recommend staying at the Hydro.