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The Cavendish Hotel is ideally located 5 minutes' walk from Eastbourne's shopping and commercial centre. Facing the coast on Eastbourne's Grand Parade, guests can enjoy stunning views from one of the hotels many suites. For your convenience, Eastbourne's rail station can be reached within 10 minutes by foot.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Classic
Bay View
Languages Spoken
English, Polish
Location
38 Grand Parade, Eastbourne BN21 4DH England
Cavendish Hotel
3.1 reviews
Getting there
Great for walkers
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
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Nestled in a prime location, the Cavendish Hotel's central proximity to attractions and convenient on-site parking are widely praised by guests. However, the hotel comes under fire for its rooms, which are often criticized for being outdated and poorly maintained, leading to discomfort and noise-related sleep disruptions.
While the service receives a mixed response, with some highlighting the friendliness of the staff, others are disappointed by encounters with rudeness. The hotel's overall atmosphere and amenities fail to impress, described as lacking vibrancy and modern touches.
Location
Central
Atmosphere
Tired
Rooms
Run-down
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Mixed
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Satisfactory
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We as do many people look at Trip Advisor before going to a Hotel you’ve never been to before, but on this occasion it does not give a true reflection of this hotel.
On entering the reception we were greeted with a warm welcome from reception and given our room keys and pack information. Yes the hotel is dated and needs a bit of TLC here and there but as for the staff running the hotel you can’t fault them for their friendliness and helpfulness.
The rooms were basic but had everything you need in them. Tea, Coffee, Milk and biscuits. The beds were comfortable and clean. Towels were provided on the beds for you.
The housekeeping ladies I met were very friendly and helpful too.
The bathroom was clean with little additions of soaps and little shower gels etc.
Dinner in the evening was self service but the two staff members there were on hand clearing away plates, cleaning tables and replenishing the food on offer. They were lovely and so helpful.
The barmen in the bar in the evenings were also very friendly and cheerful we had a laugh with them when we went up to the bar.
Like I said you cannot fault this hotel for friendliness and helpfulness of the staff they were amazing.
Breakfast had everything you would need as in a full English self service, cereals, toast, porridge and croissants, a self service coffee machine and juice machine. We really enjoyed it.
So if you want to book a stay at The Cavendish Hotel please make your own mind up when reading the horrendous reviews on here as you could possibly miss out on a good stay in Eastbourne at a decent price.
Thankyou to all the staff we met during our 2 night stay you really made our break enjoyable.
There’s even free hotel postcards next to reception if you fancied sending one home to your family.
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Date of stay: March 2025Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We just wated a bed for the night. Bed was very comfortable pillows were very hard. The room was basic nothing fancy but clean and lovely sea view. It was very hot and could only open the window a short way i guess for safety, however a fan was supplied in the room. I went to use the bathroom but the toilet hadn't been cleaned. I asked the receptionist to send someone but there was no one available so they ungraded us to a suite. Huge bedroom, huge sitting room with sofas table and chairs. Huge bathroom. It's still a basic no frills room but massive with sea view. Enjoyed our stay, bar was reasonably priced and very friendly staff. I would stay again.
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Date of stay: August 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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This was obviously a Hotel on the slide downwards. The staff were very pleasant but the Hotel in comparison to the pictures is now very tired and less inviting as a result. Carpets are stained, interior public area windowsills up the staircases had not been cleaned for some time. Staining on carpets, tired decor, no facility or resort information in the room. Toiletries and towels nor refreshed daily coffee/tea making facilities. Good breakfast ( both continental and full English available) . Did not try the limited evening meal menu and this was only available on one evening during our stay. Once this was obviously a very good hotel, as pictured on this Site, but has obviously gone down hill since and there is no sign as yet that the present Owners intend to arrest this decline and bring the Cavendish back to its obvious former standards of comfort and hospitality. The view from our room and balcony was stunning. Alas this Hotel is currently a rapidly fading lady - so sad.
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Date of stay: April 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Breakfast is good. However dinner is not always available. Standard of rooms, facilities and...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The location of this hotel is the only highlight - it’s right on the waterfront, by the pier and a short 5-10 minute to the centre. There is parking included with the hotel, but at an additional £8 cost per 24 hours, and is very difficult to find. I arrived at approximately 8pm, but the bar and restaurant were both closed, which was not advertised on booking. This was inconvenient given a late arrival for a business trip. The lift screeches on opening/closing and doesn’t feel safe. The room itself was disappointing - it’s dated, poor quality with everything chipped or stained, window opens minimally so the room is boiling hot and feels stuffy. There was a fan provided which did nothing to cool the room down. There’s also a bright green light above the bathroom door that cannot be turned off or turned down.
The hot room, itchy sheets and bright green light made a good nights sleep extremely difficult.
The bath mat/towel for the floor in the bathroom was dirty on arrival.
The breakfast was okay. Poor selection of fresh fruit & yogurt, 4x options for cereal, a few pastries in a basket and toast to make yourself. The coffee was abysmal. The hot food is ordered via a waiter/waitress - and is only a full English offering.
Would not recommend and wouldn’t return. Highly disappointing and not reflected by the photos on booking.com, trip advisor or the hotel website.
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Date of stay: February 2025Trip type: Travelled on business
Room Tip:Parking difficult. Located under an arch around the side of the hotel. Costs £8 for 24 hours
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Where do I start. The worst hotel we've ever stayed in! I booked a sea view room with balcony last October 2023. We were given room 201 which had no balcony and as for a sea view, well if you could see beyond the filthy, cracked and scratched glass you would be lucky. We considered checking out immediately but because of the air show all nearby hotels were, of course, fully booked. I made a complaint at reception, as were other duped guests. After sometime a receptionist came to our room and offered us another, room 401. We changed rooms by two floors but the only difference was that the ironmongery was missing for the windows. I had to call housekeeping to come and clean what seemed like a milk stain dripping down on the central window panel. The sink had to be unblocked when I called maintenance. The bathroom window could not be opened, it had been sealed in by a secondary glass panel. We were now tired from the journey from Wales and angry with the general state of things and had to go to the dinner I had booked for the first night. We sat at a table for good while before one of the waitresses told us to "Go Help Yourself" - that just about put the icing on the cake except that the food on offer in the so called "Buffet" was worse that I had ever seen - ever before. Disgusting comes to mind. At reception we were told there would be no housekeeping! In other words pick up your own clean towel and toilet rolls from reception......ON THEIR WEBSITE: "The restaurant benefits from a prime position on the Eastbourne sea front, offering guests panoramic sea views. The opulence of the room, mixed with fabulous sea views, provides a grand sense of occasion." ALSO: "The grand and charming restaurant offers outstanding cuisine, which is carefully sourced and selected by our chefs. The menu offers a variety of meats, salads, soups and much more. " - I think "Britannia Hotels" owes me an apology and compensation for taking £809 for 4 awful nights in this, what was once, a magnificent building which has been let go to rack and ruin!!
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Date of stay: August 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We had a 1 night stay on a Saturday night and whilst we only paid £80 for a double room including breakfast (plus £8 for parking) my husband and I both felt it was not even worth the £80! The main hotel doors were broken upon arrival due to a storm but rather than open the bar doors for use, guests were expected to use the basement entrance, these doors were wedged open and anyone could walk in / out of the hotel. The public areas of the hotel are more up to date than the bedrooms but the carpets still need cleaning (large stains on the staircases), the windows are filthy and the lift doors smeared and dirty. When ordering a drink in the bar, my husband was unfortuantely served a pint that was off but as the barman disappeared as soon as he served us and hadn't returned some 30 minutes later when we were heading out for dinner, we just left it. We were also unable to charge the drinks to our room. Our bedroom whilst clean was incredibly run down, plastic shower curtain which just sticks to you, paint chipped and peeling of the doors, broken wardrobe that didn't close, pictures hung up crooked on walls, broken hairdryer and the windows rattled and banged all night in their frames meaning we got very little sleep. Breakfast the following morning was average at best, watered down orange juice which comes out of a machine and lukewarm anemic looking food with no taste. There was also no toilet rolls in any of the 3 ladies cubicles on the ground floor on the Sunday morning which would indicate they had not been checked since the night before. Service was minimal, we don't recall seeing one member of staff that actually wanted to be there and even checking us in seemed like too much hard work. Needless to say even at the price we paid, we would not return to this hotel!
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Date of stay: December 2023
Value
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Very tired exterior and interior which must have been lovely some time in theist century or so. The bedroom was spacious but the beds were very hard. No room service is offered. The room was too warm (facing south with a sea view) and it was impossible to open the windows more than a crack even if you manage to slide the double glazing back. The large bathroom with a rain shower (no bath) was effectively a wet room so that the floor became flooded after a shower. The room had a fridge and a safe, iron, hair dryer and adequate storage for clothes. WiFi access is £7 a day and parking £8 a day in the hotel car park at the rear. There is nearby on street parking at a cost during the day time. The reception staff were somewhat sullen and we did not feel welcome. All the staff had limited English. breakfast was self service buffet in a spacious potentially gorgeous dining room and the cooked food was indifferent. We did not sample the evening menu also buffet self service but had one meal in the bar which has a limited menu but was OK. The hotel accepts dogs.
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Date of stay: May 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Ensure you are aware of lack of room service and indifferent dining experience.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I stayed here for one night and regretted I did, The room was the worst I've ever paid for it was like a broom cupboard no natural light and outside the window a commercial boiler ran constantly which meant getting sleep was impossible. The room was cold as heating didn't work neither did the TV which made the whole experience miserable- the bathroom also needed a good deep clean. although manning reception the staff where vacant and didn't seem interested in your booking or you. I did Write into the head office for this hotel chain to complain as it was so bad and as I took a video of the noise in the room but they never responded so took it they aren't interested in customer feed back. The only things about this hotel I liked was the onsite parking and the front area was decorated nicely, but this really was lipstick on a pig as far as the rooms and my stay was concerned.
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Date of stay: September 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled solo
Room Tip:I don't recommend a stay here at all..
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This hotel is awful. It’s dirty and unkept and the staff seem to be uninterested. The customer lift is broken, and according to staff members has been for some time. We were “offered” the facility of the staff lift which is quite disgusting, dirty and cranky and in my opinion, a safety hazard. Having paid £189 upfront for room only, on arrival we were told that there would be no servicing of the rooms. So, for a premium rate, we had to clean our own rooms and make the beds etc. Everywhere was unkept and our bedroom window was kept closed by a huge hook screwed to the frame. We arrived back after dinner at a restaurant and went to the bar at 10:45 for a coffee and liqueur, to be told by the barman, who switched off the coffee machine when he saw us coming, that he closed at 11. We pointed out that it was only 10:45 but was told that he needed cleaning up time. He finally relented and we were served with our coffee. There’s more ! See photos.
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Date of stay: June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Britannia have let this majestic hotel become a rundown mess. Covid signage is present everywhere including “Test and Trace” which ended 3 years ago. Britannia use this as an excuse not to clean your room. Seaview rooms are baking hot with aircon units that do not work- so why not fix them? The tiled balconies are filthy and don’t look as if they have been cleaned since decimalisation. Some radiators in the corridors are on full and they cannot turn them off. Again, why not fix them? Breakfast is not worth the money. Go to a local cafe instead. Uncooked sausages, congealed eggs, stale bread put out for toast and diluted juices. Car parking is £8 per day but you can pay £7.80 and park outside all day so no sense in that. The staff appear worn down by it all and are probably fed up with all of the complaints, but the blame must lie with Britannia, who have cut so many corners they have ended up with a hotel no longer customer worthy. The one bright spot is former air hostess Lizzie on reception who is charming, polite and patient, she hides her embarrassed smile well and must soon be looking for the emergency exit. A bit like Polly in Fawlty Towers she is too good for this place.
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Date of stay: July 2023Trip type: Travelled with friends
Room Tip:If you have to stay here avoid baking hot Seaview Rooms in the summer and give breakfast a miss.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There are more places to choose from in the Eastbourne area.
PRICE RANGE
R 802 - R 1,203 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
United KingdomEnglandEast SussexEastbourne
NUMBER OF ROOMS
111
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect average nightly room rates, including taxes and fees that are fixed, known to our partners, and due at time of booking. Please see our partners for more details.
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