Hastings in East Sussex was once much maligned, often a punchline to jokes about the “roughest” seaside towns in the country. Those in the know, though, know differently. This coastal community has a long-held artistic tradition and more recent implants – known to locals as “Down from Londons” (DFLs) – have added to this reputation.
While the town, made up of the Old Town, new town and edgy St Leonards-on-Sea, may still be a little rough around the edges, it’s full to the brim with eccentric art galleries, cosy pubs, Michelin-recommended places to eat – and some of the most quirky shops and museums you’ve ever seen (try the Fishermen’s Museum and True Crime Museum).
After you’ve got your 1066 history fix, antiqued up and down the streets of St Leonards, danced to live Irish music in The Albion, eaten from the imaginative menu at The Crown on All Saints St and washed it all down with a pint or two at the First In Last Out on the High Street, head to one of Hastings’ best stays – rounded up here…
Vive, Havelock Road
Hastings and Ibiza are rarely referred to in the same sentence, but Vive Hotel is where the two meet.
Open for just a year, this hotel in the up-and-coming new town was a collaboration between Jason Bull – who previously owned the snazzy Es Vive in Ibiza before he sold it to footballer Lionel Messi – and designer Sean Cochrane, who designed the Balearic escape.
Set in a former university building, rooms are modern and functional, with each acting as a studio, ideal for long or short stays.
Each space features white walls and clean lines and comes fully equipped with a luxury en-suite shower room, modern kitchenette, and desk area.
There are plans for a modern European restaurant, as well as a spa, creche and a playroom, slated to open in the near future.
Rooms from £74, vivehotel.co.uk
Hastings House, St Leonards-on-Sea
Although technically a separate town, St Leonards-on-Sea is frequently lumped in with Hastings. It offers a very different vibe, though, with artists in residence and achingly hip eateries everywhere you turn.
Hop off the train from London or Brighton one station before Hastings at St Leonards Warrior Square and take a short walk to Hastings House, set in a Regency townhouse, which is one of just a few five star residences in the area. Step inside this upscale B&B and you’ll be greeted with contemporary soft greys and exposed wood.
Most rooms have a sea view and are bright, clean and comfortable. Each comes with an en-suite bathroom, featuring wet room-style rainfall showers as well as robes and slippers – and some have luxurious freestanding bathtubs.
Breakfast is included as standard, and guests can choose from a traditional Full English, French toast or a perfectly seaside-y smoked salmon and scrambled eggs.
Rooms from £115, hastingshouse.co.uk
St Benedict Victorian B&B, Pevensey Road
Hastings and St Leonards are well known for their quirkiness – and St Benedict Victorian B&B encapsulates that reputation perfectly.
Walk inside and you’ll feel as if you’ve stepped into a time machine. Located, aptly, in a late Victorian family house, this spectacular B&B has taken great care to recreate the 1800s with accurate interiors, many sourced from the town’s wealth of antiques shops.
Each of the five rooms is named whimsically – The Old Nursery and The Colonel’s Room – and several feature William Morris wallpaper.
Owner Paul Oxborrow, who started the B&B in 2008, is clearly committed to presenting an accurate picture of the Victorian era but, luckily, there are baths, showers and plumbed-in loos as opposed to the more rudimentary methods of our forefathers.
In the colder months, the dark yet sumptuous interiors come into their own. Guests can warm up in front of a cosy open fire in the lounge and the Victorian lighting gleams off ornate gold picture frames and chandeliers, while heavily patterned rugs add extra snugness.
All stays include a full English cooked breakfast, served “country house style” in the dining room along with home made marmalade. Visitors can also take a stroll in the faithfully restored walled kitchen garden, flanked by authentic greenhouses.
If you’re feeling inspired by the remarkable decor, take a brisk walk to nearby Norman Road, which has a seemingly endless array of antiques shops, perfect for picking up a Victorian era trinket as a souvenir of your trip to the ‘past’.
Rooms from £118, victorianbedandbreakfast.co.uk
The Laindons, Hastings Old Town
Locals know the Old Town as the “real” Hastings. With buildings dating back the 1400s, it’s a world away from the new town with its chain shops and utilitarian architecture.
The Laindons, a small but perfectly formed guest house in the middle of Old Hastings, is the perfect base to explore the narrow streets, packed with quirky gift shops and cute coffee spots.
Each of its five rooms are named after colours and offer unique designs and vibes – think tiled fireplaces and nods to the sea beyond, like shell-shaped lamps and cushions adorned with crabs.
The Blue Room takes the nautical theme a step further, with a roll top bath in the room itself. The Yellow Room has perhaps the best view of all, thanks to its bay window which reveals a panorama over the delightfully quirky Old Town buildings.
Breakfast, included in the price, is served until 10 in the conservatory which overlooks the pretty East Hill nature park.
Free-range eggs and sausages and bacon come from local farms and jams and marmalades are hand-produced in nearby Battle.
Rooms from £165, laindons.com
The Cloudesley, Cloudesley Road
If you’re a conscious traveller, The Cloudesley could be your best bet for a visit to Hastings.
A little inland, this environmentally-conscious B&B has previously been named one of the best in the country and it’s easy to see why.
Designed by Chelsea Flower Show award winner Shahriar Mazandi, relaxation and calm is the vibe here.
Rooms have no televisions and are painted in limewash from Francesca’s Paints and the showers are heated by solar panels.
Carrying on this philosophy, there are no microwaves in the kitchen, Himalayan crystal salt is used in food preparation on-site, while fruit from the garden is served at breakfast when in season.
For a full-on escape, spa treatments and holistic therapies are on offer, from traditional massage to reflexology, and reiki in peaceful treatment rooms.
Rooms from £111, thecloudesley.co.uk
The Old Rectory, Harold Road
If you’re looking for a sign that Hastings truly is on the up and up, The Old Rectory is it. It has been recognised by the Michelin Guide’s new Michelin Keys, created to highlight outstanding hotels.
Just inland from Hastings’ iconic fishermans’ huts, this stylish haunt is owned by Lionel Copley, a designer who previously worked with Katherine Hamnett.
His fashionable nous is evident in The Old Rectory, which dates back to mediaeval times and has had Victoian and Georgian wings added on over the intervening years.
The nine rooms, elegantly decked out, are all named after streets in Hastings Old Town. Some of them feature wallpaper designed by local artist Deborah Bowness and others feature shabby-chic chandeliers and gilded mirrors, adding a rustic-meets-glamorous touch to your environment.
The walled garden is a must-see and breakfast is a gem. The Old Rectory makes their own meat and veggie sausages and smoke their own kippers and salmon at an in-house smokery.
Hastings is not known for its spas, but the venue here is hailed as one of the best for miles around.
On offer are a wide variety of treatments, including a Sculpted Facial, Oriental massage and reflexology and postural realignment body work. Bookings are open to non-residents, so make sure to book ahead.
Rooms from £135, theoldrectoryhastings.co.uk
The Jenny Lind Inn, High Street
If you like to be in the thick of it and experience life like a local, you could do a lot worse than a stay at The Jenny Lind Inn.
Downstairs is a cosy pub with a wide selection of real ales on tap and live music – think sea shanties, folk and blues – on several days a week.
Upstairs, in the inn’s rooms, it’s a world away from the noisy fun in the bars below. The five bedrooms, which offer flexible accommodation for family groups and single occupancy rates, are cosy and comfortable. All have seagull’s eye views of the higgledy piggledy Old Town below, and are just two minutes walk from the beach.
The Jenny – as locals call it – also makes the perfect base to visit two of Hastings’ most interesting museums – the Flower Makers’ Museum and the Fishermen’s Museum, both offering unique insights into parts of the town’s rich history.
Rooms from £74, jennylindhastings.co.uk/stay
