My kinda place

Bev Fearis checked into the myhotel Brighton, one of the city’s funkiest boutique hotels.

If you’re looking for a hotel that reflects its location, this is it. Fun, buzzy, colourful, sexy, and a little bit crazy, the myhotel Brighton is just what you would expect from the city’s North Laines. As soon as I stepped into the glittery, sci-fi-style reception and spied the bubble-shaped tropical fish tanks in the walls, I knew this was going to be my kind of hotel. Even more so when I delved further and discovered the retro gold and silver-walled bar – think Thunderbirds meets James Bond baddy’s lair. And this glamorous setting, the receptionist told me, would be where I’d be having my breakfast.

My room was just as whacky – a bright but calming mix of whiter than white with dashes of lime, turquoise, warm pastel greens and a giant feng shui inspired blind that made me want to grab a yoga mat and get meditating. All 80 guests rooms are apparently designed with feng shui principles in mind – it’s all very Brighton!

There’s lots of fun gadets too, including a hole in the wall which lets you play your ipod or iphone out of a speaker in the ceiling. The flatscreen TV looked good, but it only had a few basic channels and the picture and sound quality wasn’t great. Wi-fi was complimentary, as it jolly well should be these days.

The bathroom had a large walk-in shower, a separate toilet and a pod-like sink area. The Anyah eco-friendly toiletries were nice and definitely worth pinching. A large slide door wardrobe had plenty of hanging space.

Like Brighton itself, the only problem was the parking. Guests have no choice but to use the hotel’s underground car park which, although convenient, is also pretty pricey at £19.50 a night on weekdays and £29.50 at the weekends. My advice would be to leave the car outside the city and grab a cab, or come by train. The myhotel is less than a 10-minute walk from Brighton station, the same again to the beach. It’s also right across the road from the Tesco metro that stays open till late, so no need to pay hotel prices for a bottle of water (another money saving tip).

Right next door is the inexpensive award-winning Chilli Pickle restaurant which is buzzy every night of the week. Join the Brighton locals or you can order Chilli Pickle dishes through a room service menu. I did just that, and it beat a chicken club sandwich any day.

I slept soundly in the oversized bed, showered, and headed down to breakfast. It was a simple affair of muesli, yoghurts, a big bowl of fresh fruit and delicious pastries with a DIY tea and coffee machine with a wide range of flavours to choose from. Most other breakfast diners were dressed for business, but I had the day off and the funky boutiques of the Laines were calling me, so I left my overnight bag with the reception desk and went off shopping for the morning, returning several hours later with many more!