During our incredible tour of Brighton this month, we got to visit the unbelievable Hotel du Vin. This venue combines one of a kind, unique charm, with decadent history, and sublime functionality. This is a true one-off venue that stunned us with its 1700’s boutique sensibilities and eight fantastic meeting spaces, perfect for exclusive venue hire!
The Hotel du Vin has forty nine stellar bedrooms, with seven stunning suites that really took it to the next level. One of the things that impressed us the most about this three century old building was its commitment to accessibility, rare in older buildings which were not as thoughtfully designed. Hotel du Vin has done incredible work between its accessible bedroom and making sure that everywhere in the hotel, including nearly all meeting rooms, is accessible to wheelchair users.
The facilities are also fantastic with a Bistro, private dining, and of course, its namesake wine bar which stands out with some stunning listings inspired by the wine merchant who was also the architect behind this spectacular collection of Gothic Revival and Mock Tudor styled buildings. The size of the venue stands out too, it’s nearly fifty bedrooms make it the perfect size for exclusive hire, for a company retreat or so much more with exclusive hire packages available from £18,325.
The Venue is fantastically located seconds away from Brighton Pier, while still having great travel links, forty five minutes to Gatwick airport for guests flying in to your important meetings, and just fifteen minutes from Brighton train station, for domestic event-goers travelling by rail!
The entrance is down a small pedestrian lane that is more or less solely dedicated to the hotel’s entrance, the mass of carefully painted mint green exterior, with quirky, characterful wooden arching and entranceways stands out as a stunning sight from the outside alone, but seriously, wait until you get inside! There’s no parking here, but just 4 minutes away are multiple car parks in case guests need somewhere to park up, when travelling en-masse.
The entranceway takes you through, with teasing views of the beautiful courtyard dining area, into the reception, a small, but efficient space with beautiful wooden beams and upholstery really taking you back to this venue’s conception in the 1700’s. Taking over in 2002, the Hotel du Vin chain has really done a special job with this place, retaining the hotel’s storied history while making sure that everything feels modern and fresh. We really mean that too, there’s a real sense of taste about this venue, not a single piece of furniture, or a single bit of furnishing, felt dated or out of place, this was a venue, designed and redesigned with care in mind!
The hotel rooms at this venue really stood out to us. While we’re often distracted by great meeting spaces and facilities, here we have to make time for the amazing bedrooms which truly share the spotlight. Remember we talked about taste and design, well these rooms, no matter the package, bring that in quality, beds lined with Egyptian linen sheets, genuinely good air-con and mod-con as well as high-quality TV sets for your viewing pleasure (although we’d recommend exploring beautiful Brighton over watching TV!). All of the rooms from classic, all the way through to signature and deluxe, have a bright and airy feel, with plenty of natural light and a funky design reminiscent of your favourite boutique hotels!
Venue Address: 2 Ship Street, Brighton, BN1 1AD
Venue Website: https://www.hotelduvin.com/locations/brighton/
Sales Contact: Krem Baloukova - Events Manager
Phone Number: +44 (0)1273 855221
Venue Email Address: events.brighton@malmaison.com
Everything at Hotel du Vin feels premium. And that extends to the incredible food. The menus are carefully selected and the food itself is super tasty. We were lucky enough to grab a bite here and we were wowed. We’d be back just for a bite, let alone their fantastic meeting spaces and rooms, and views…. and location…. we really could go on here!
One fantastic thing about the catering and food at Hotel Du Vin (the team lead by amazing head chef Guillame Rambaud) was how they could scale dining experiences up or down for the occasion. Want an intimate private dinner that feels formal? Well, try the gourmet selections from their incredible private dining menus and have a bite to eat in any of the wonderful meeting rooms, which thanks to their unique style are perfect for intimate dining. Want a quicker, more low key bite to eat without losing any of the quality? Then the Bistro du Vin is for you.
We quickly realised that the Bistrot du Vin was the beating heart and soul of this incredible venue. The space is French styled with incredible wooden detailing and beautiful fireplaces feel straight out of the era this hotel was built in! This space makes a really good spot for celebrations and can be hired out - it’s perfectly sized for a post-team-building treat! On top of all of this, you can’t forget the wines! The dedicated sommeliers know everything and more when it comes to the sharpest, most tasteful wines and wine pairings. This touch really added to the premium feel of this venue which definitely runs throughout. This is a classy place, to have a classy glass of wine, after a long day of working hard!
The Hotel du Vin, however, are never too caught up in their high end food or drinks, or service for that matter, to forget about the environment. This venue - has so many across our destination of the month, really puts an effort into their sustainability as a hotel. On a grand scale, the hotel is 95% powered by renewable electricity but even smaller touches mean a lot such as the use of ozone cleaning in bedrooms and public areas, as well as shifting to enzyme based environmentally friendly cleaning products in all kitchens!
Thought it couldn’t get better? The meeting spaces at Hotel du Vin have something special to offer. Character. Across their ten meeting rooms, not a single one feels plain or boring. Now sometimes plain is good, but here at Hotel du Vin they’ve elevated the level for what simple, let luxurious rooms means. These meeting spaces are all brilliantly designed, still maintaining the house design style of the hotel that echoes its 1700’s roots, without ever being overbearing.
The totally-one-off meeting spaces come thick and fast as you navigate the quirky corridors of this amazing venue. There’s so many to choose from the cosy, tiny Bloomsbury room for up to 10 people to the seriously amazing Screw pull Cellar room for up to 14, and to the fabulous Dome for up to 120 people. Every space is unique and totally different from the last, what’s even better, they all come fully equipped with the latest modern appliances and Wi-Fi is easily accessible and free throughout the venue - again, not easy for an old building!
MEETING SPACE HIGHLIGHT : The Dome Room
Woah. Want to wow clients? This is the one. The Hotel du Vin’s largest meeting space, The Dome is a vast and airy domed room with a stunning glass roof and wine glass chandelier centrepiece that floods with natural daylight. That’s right, a chandelier made from wine glasses, talk about one of a kind! This is a perfect spot accommodating large parties, gala dinners and smaller award ceremonies.
Location: First Floor - no.7 Ship Street
Natural daylight: Yes
How big is the room 137.5 Sq. m
Theatre style layout - capacity 90
Cabaret style layout - capacity 65
Dinner - capacity 100
Drinks reception - capacity 120
AV equipment - Television and speakers included in hire.
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MEETING SPACE HIGHLIGHT : SMWS - Scottish Malt Whiskey Snug
The Scottish Malt Whisky Snug is exactly that, snug. We can imagine an amazing private dining experience here in this room so full of character, as the autumn leaves fall outside the windows! Located on the ground floor of the hotel, the room is adjoining the bar and has beautiful wooden double doors that give direct access to the Courtyard if you or your guests fancy a break from your board meeting or incredible dinner, but you’d have to drag us out of this room!
Location: First Floor Main Building
Natural daylight: Yes
How big is the room 51.15 Sq. m
Theatre style layout - capacity 20
Cabaret style layout - capacity NA
Dinner - capacity 24
Drinks reception - capacity 40
AV equipment : Included in the room hire or DDR rates.
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MEETING SPACE HIGHLIGHT : Lombard
Last but definitely not least, Lombard is a beautiful, medium sized, chic room, that we’d say most encapsulates the French-ness of Hotel du Vin. Artistic, with gorgeous French doors, bespoke paintings and a smaller adjoining door to the bistro providing a truly unique space. There’s plenty of room in here, so a drinks reception (glass of vin, anyone?) would go down just a treat.
Location: First Floor Main Building
Natural daylight: Yes
How big is the room: 63.9 Sq. m
Theatre style layout - capacity 48
Cabaret style layout - capacity 36
Dinner - capacity 40
Drinks reception - capacity 50
AV equipment : All included in room hire and DDR rate.
Summary
We love all the venues we visit, we love to see the amazing world of events thrive in all of its different shapes and sizes, but at Hotel du Vin, you get one of the most stellar, unique experiences that you could ask for, especially when it comes to their totally one-off meeting spaces, that truly elevate this already great venue. We were mesmerised by the meticulous care of the dedicated events team here who spared nothing when it came to making sure guests at your event had a time they’d never forget. The DDR 24-hour rate at £373 per person includes Wine Tasting and team building experiences, this is a venue not to be missed, on the glorious south coast.