This seafront hotel is pretty old as it was built in 1864 but has been well looked after and remains in good condition, retaining original features but with a few modern touches.

Our rooms, one double and a twin cost us £62 per room on the August Bank Holiday Sunday, although I can see from the Ramada website that Friday and Saturday night stays are more expensive than this. Fridays seem to cost £80 - £90 and Saturdays £100 - £125 which is quite a big difference! Also, we didn't have a sea view from either room and that would have cost a little more. The hotel also offers family rooms for up to 4 people and executive packages where you can pay extra for champagne and inclusive Internet and film access. Adapted bedrooms are also available for the disabled.

The hotel is located on the seafront although it is actually well on the way to Hove, and a fair distance from the main pier and the town centre. It is pretty close to the West Pier but unfortunately there is not much left of that at the moment following a series of collapses and fires over the last 10 years or so and I think it had been pretty much abandoned for a while before that anyway! It takes around 15 minutes to walk from the hotel to the surviving Palace Pier and another 5 minutes or so to reach the Pavilion or the Lanes so it is not the most central location but decent enough, and we didn't mind the walk much ourselves to be fair, apart from when we got drenched coming back from the Pier on day 1!

If you are arriving at the train station like we were, you just need to walk straight downhill towards the sea and turn right at the nightclub at the bottom, and then continue along the seafront past the Hilton and Holiday Inn until you reach the Ramada. I think it took us about 20 minutes or so all together so you may want to get a taxi if you are carrying a lot of luggage.

In the lobby area as you walk in you can see the original staircase and a nice modern check in desk but I can't help feeling that they could make a bit more of this area. It looks like there have been changes in layout over the years and something about this ground floor seems a bit jumbled up but that's more of an observation than a complaint.

Check in was nice and smooth. Our rooms weren't ready when we arrived at midday but we were led to a locked cupboard where we stored our bags until we returned to the hotel later in the afternoon. We also left our bags in there for a few hours on the following day after checking out (before 11am).

The rooms themselves were very clean and spacious enough. There wasn't loads of free space but plenty to store your luggage and walk around the beds etc. There was an open wardrobe which looked a bit bizarre but made good use of the space, a table with a chair and a mirror above it and a TV in the corner that offered Internet access or films for an extra cost. Tea making facilities were provided and there was also a menu for 24 hour room service, although I don't know how hungry you'd have to be to pay £12 for a sandwich! There was also a trouser press provided and plenty of plug sockets. The lighting was fine, with lights behind the bed in addition to the ceiling lights.

The beds were pretty comfortable and had a quilt provided which I much prefer to all those layers and layers of different sheets. The temperature was fine in the room (there was a radiator below the window for Winter which wasn't on obviously) and we weren't disturbed by any noise during the night. As I said, we didn't have a sea view; we were at the side of the building and just looked across to an adjacent building.

The bathroom in our room was pretty small and a strange rectangular shape but, again, they had made pretty good use of the space and it looked fairly new and was spotlessly clean. There was a bath with an overhead shower which was nice and powerful, although it had one of those annoying shower curtains which keep sticking to you. There were enough little shelves around the bath for toiletries etc but the bathroom could have done with a shelf somewhere around the sink as well perhaps, and maybe a hook on the back of the door. Some glasses for water, a box of tissues and some nice little toiletries were provided: soap, shower gel and shampoo, although these were kept in a bit of a strange place behind the toilet, and the towel rail was also on the wall directly next to the toilet. Overall though, they'd done fairly well with the space and the bathroom was functional if a little claustrophobic!

We didn't have breakfast at the hotel but it is of course provided for at an extra cost; I can't remember how much it was but we decided it probably wouldn't be worth it! Food is also available all day in their Arts Bar and Restaurant. The hotel also has meeting and conference rooms and a Victorian Ballroom for functions.

Check out was very quick and overall our stay at the Ramada was pretty good. It may have been better to be a little closer to the centre of Brighton but it was nice to be on the seafront (obviously a sea view would make this even better!) There were plenty of fish and chip shops nearby not surprisingly, some bars on the lower prom within 5 - 10 minutes walk and it wasn't all that far to walk to the Lanes and town centre where you can find plenty of different restaurants and shops. I can't fault the hotel on cleanliness and we had a confortable and undisturbed nights sleep.

If I was returning to stay in Brighton on any night other than Friday or Saturday I would definitely consider staying here again as I think £62 per room is a good price but I'm not sure it would be good enough value for money if I was asked to pay £90 or £100 for a Friday/Saturday night and I think I would look elsewhere.