Hastings House

Very comfortable bedroom. Well dressed comfy bed. Really good shower pressure, nice fluffy towels. Quiet within the hotel, some outside noise but to be expected for the location at the seaside. Easy parking for us at the weekend. Very nice included breakfast. Delicious full English but I think other stuff is available. Lovely owner and staff. Dining room a treat. Very hard to fault this place. One small gripe seeing as nowhere can ever be 100%, the room was far too warm for us. For others maybe a bonus point. Overall if ever we are back in Hastings I'd like to stay here again. Lovely Italian restaurant within 50 yards and lots of antique/ vintage shops nearby. 20 yards from the promenade.

I arrived to find the building dark and a note on the door telling me to call for entry. I spoke to a lady who explained the owner had been called away on a family emergency and the b&b was unattended. I got the key via the key box and found my way to my room on the second floor. As a lone traveller I was already very uncomfortable with the whole set up but even more so to find my bedroom door wide open for anyone to gain access! The room itself was adequate but no hand soap or mini bar and it was utterly freezing! I called again and was told I’d need to go downstairs and put the heating on myself. I was already dressed for bed but I was too cold to relax so I got dressed and went in search of the thermostat which was located in reception. Another couple arrived into the building and they assisted me as we couldn’t even find the lights. The thermostat had been left at 15 so obviously they had ensured the guests would have no heating all night. The next morning I came downstairs for breakfast to be asked whether the heating had come on when I said it hadn’t the lady retorted that the rest of the hotel was like a sauna when she arrived in the morning - lucky them! Breakfast was full English, poached eggs or smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. I prefer a lighter breakfast, fruit and perhaps a pastry but this wasn’t an option so I went for the poached eggs. Pretty hard boiled unfortunately but the coffee was good. Finally when I came to leave and pay, the card machine was broken so I was asked to leave my card number, including the three digit security number. I quickly realised I’d made a silly mistake doing this and had to cancel my card, later making arrangements for a bank transfer into the owners personal account (upon their request!) I’m felt like I’d spent a night at Fawlty Towers to be honest. As a business traveller, my safety is a priority and this place failed on so many levels. When emergencies happen, the business owner should have a contingency plan, not leave guests to fend for themselves!

We went to Hastings House for dinner to celebrate 30 years together and were, quite frankly, somewhat disappointed. We had reserved a table on the patio; were seated at a metal table, no tablecloth or even place mats. Cutlery was wrapped up in a napkin (at least it was fabric and not paper). While the food was fine we were disappointed that the vegetables were comprised of uninspired winter vegetables, right at the height of Summer when fresh local produce is abundant. Overall, Hastings House isn’t trying hard enough to provide an extra-special experience, which is kind of what you might hope for when you are spending upwards of $300 on a meal for two. Very disappointing - won’t be back.