Avalon Guest Accommodation

Latest News and what's happening ...

Don't delay booking for too long as the Avalon fills quickly. When we had a double suddenly become available last weekend one couple dithered and headed off to check other places. having realised ours offered great accommodation and value, they returned only to be disappointed that someone else had got here first!

People want good value in these tricky times and you get that here (good value - not tricky times!). Some of the restaurants nearby struggled earlier in the year - some closed (none of the ones we particularly recommend but that's not the point). Brighton continues to be a fun and very lively place with fantastic restaurants - many doing excellent deals.

Pubs too - midweek in the Sidewinder or Mon to Sat in the Bristol Bar, you can get a pint for £2.75 which, in Paris last year, cost us £6.50! A pint of Guinness in Dublin these days is £6.50. Here it's around £3.00. So if you live in the Eurozone your money goes twice as far on some things. If you live here and holiday overseas, your money can sometimes only buy you half of what you can get in Brighton! And the Bristol Bar has a sea view.

Guardian Unlimited Review:

Don't just take our word for it checkout www.travel.guardian.co.uk/hotels

What do you get in a B&B?

Here's what you get at the Avalon:

• Free wireless broadband in all rooms
• A litre glass jug of filtered water
• Fairtrade tea / coffee / hot chocolate making in all rooms
• DVD players and flat screens in all rooms*
• Eating out / entertainment advice and assistance
• Newspaper delivered to room (just pay for the paper on your bill)
• Huge range of breakfast choice - special diets catered for
• Kids up to 14 free in family rooms (age 14 - not number of them!)
• Dogs more than welcome and advice where to go walkies
• OS Maps loaned for free for the walkers
• Restaurants or theatres booked
• Use of laundry if staying for more than two days
• Free seagull updates and window visits
• Avalon notepads in rooms

Why pay £450 when you can get all this for under £100?

Dogs:

I wasn't sure whether to call us 'dog friendly' or 'pet friendly'. I thought the former better for two reasons: most people with pets only tend to bring dogs, and I'm not sure what else people might bring. I imagined the inner doorbell going at 3am with a worried guest telling me that Rambo is missing and may have switched rooms, Rambo being a fully grown tarantula, or prize python.

Therefore we are a dog friendly Brighton guest house where mainly well behaved dogs are more than welcome. We've had more dogs than I can mention but keep them coming... they're usually so quiet as they are exhausted by all the activity!

Books:

I'm going on the lookout for interesting books for the rooms. In addition to the usual stuff about serial killers etc, I've found 'How to Survive Bird Flu - a Practical Guide'. This includes a fascinating chapter on how to barricade yourself into your house for several months. Do you get the idea? There's a guide to the architecture of British Crematoria. Get to Know Your Mouse. Air Raid Precautions, What's in the Queen's Handbag? Places to Hide in the UK, How To Survive a Horror Movie and so on... must keep looking. Or if you find one - I once saw 'Road Haulage Companies in Dyffedd in the 1970s' - please bring it.

Low-energy bulbs:

Most bulbs - but not all - are now the low-energy kind. The lights offer the same degree of illumination but last longer and use a lot less electricity, helping save the planet let alone the electricity bill! If you cannot tolerate the light they give out (a small number of people get headaches) let us know when you book and we'll put standard lighting back in the room for the duration of your stay. Some lights (and we've heard nothing about this yet form the lighting people) can only be 'normal' energy - chandeliers, picture lights etc. Let's have a good chandelier equivalent please.

Update; There's a halogen 28W bulb inside a normal candle bulb which offers over 40W illumination which works really well in chandeliers. Every little helps. Mini spiral 3W bulbs from QVS work really well in picture lights - retaining the warmth of the 15W Pygmy bulbs (am I allowed to say that?). Anyway, they work well.

Art and Photography:

The 'Boutique' trend for blank walls (doors, bedding, carpets etc.) is almost over, rooms and corridors should start to remind you of home rather than an airport lounge. For stunning landscapes and sunsets see Wendy Puerto's work on her website www.wendy-puerto.co.uk. Not only that she's got a gorgeous Staffie called Oliver. Some of the photographs on this website are from a guest called Gil Vettraino who has stayed here a couple of times with his lovely wife Sylvie and equally lovely daughter Melody. The Brighton Pier, Royal Pavilion and Hove Esplanade pictures are all his.His website address is www.photogil.fr and finally we won a pair of signed Gilbert and George pictures which I've had framed and you can see them on the stairway as you go to the first floor.

Discounts and how you don't want Credit Crunch for breakfast:

We can knock a bit off for stays of three nights or longer. Remember, Brighton carries on running every day - not just at weekends. All those restaurants and bars are still open - only you have a bit more space to move around and you get served quicker! And if you don't - vote with your feet! Credit crunch my eye - we are all the 'economy' and must not get talked into a recession. If we have a year's slowdown that's a year of your life you've missed enjoying yourself! And we're serving the same stuff and better for breakfast.

Parking

We have hotel parking vouchers which cost 5.00 per 24 hours of parking restricted time.

For instance, if you arrive on a Saturday at 1.55pm, you scratch of a start time of 2.00pm, and the voucher entitles you to park in the space until 2.00pm on the Monday (Sunday doesn't count because there are currently no parking restrictions on Upper Rock Gardens). That's a massive saving on buying the tickets from the machines on Upper Rock Gardens.

You can park in designated spaces in Zone C (basically Kemptown and Queens Park). However some roads immediately north (3 minutes walk away) have spaces on the street costing 3 for 11 hours as long as you buy your ticket from the machine just before 9.00am. Sadly, paramilitary death-squad style attendants will pounce if you are a little too relaxed about timing ... I have the Penalty Notice Appeal Form to hand for any parking tickets. It is my pleasure to issue these with advice and a Thesaurus for alternatives to jumped up, arrogant, etc.

Collect the parking permit on arrival - you can park on the double yellows opposite for 'loading' while you collect it if you have to if there's no room outside but don't pull up in the bus stop (unless you're a bus) - it's an instant ticket. We'll suggest likely nearby places for parking.

Or come to Brighton by rail, sea and air. More and more people are travelling to Brighton by train and it's 49 minutes from London. (after a few beers it takes about 12 minutes). It's just over an hour from St Pancras or Ashford International Eurostar terminals too for all you lucky Euro Zone people for whom the pound is so cheap!

From the station the number 7 bus - heading for the Marina - drops you right outside and the route was recently shortened so it's only about a 5 minute trip, traffic lights and 250 sets of roadworks permitting. If you're using the buses again on the same day, buy a Saver Ticket in the One Stop Travel Shop to your right as you exit the station. This covers you on all Brighton & Hove buses for a day.

From the coach station at Pool Valley we're roughly 6 minutes 34 seconds walk away. If you're a lone female arriving late we'll happily meet you there and help you back with your luggage or there's a taxi rank nearby.

Brighton's bus service is as good or actually better than those you find on the continent. And as for taxis - make sure you are ready if you call one because they are usually here in a couple of minutes.

Out and about on the South Downs National Park

Autumn is one of the best times for walking in the South Downs National Park. We've got maps of the area and can offer travel and walking information. If you need to stock up on socks, boots, woolly hats (!) or other stuff Brighton has a host of outlets.

There are some fantastic little pubs nestling in the villages but we must use them or lose them! The Abergavenny Arms - on the South Downs Way - closed recently. We don't want a world where the only survivors are the chains. Go to the Ram in Firle - amazing place, amazing food, and just timeless. The Famous Five went pedalling through while we were there I'm sure.

All a short bus ride then a ramble from our here. You can each have a £3.20 day out by buying your saver ticket at the One Stop Travel Shop just 5 minutes walk from here.

We have a favourite walk we'd happily share with you that takes you no further than about 5 kilometres away but you'd swear you are in the deserted hills of some far off country. Then a little while later you are in Rottingdean - a ten minute bus ride back or a delightful stroll along the undercliff for a few cocktails in the Marina while you daydream about owning one of the stunning boats moored there.

We're keeping an eye on restaurant deals too, so we can suggest places to go that won't rack up heavily on the card.

And you have the advantage of returning to a city with hundreds of restaurants and bars so you have a massive choice of evening entertainment. You won't have to forage outside your tent for roots or some poor passing rabbit.

Civil Partnerships

Lots of couples have had pre-Civil Partnership nights at the Avalon and hit the town in a big way. If you are thinking of coming to Brighton for a pre-partnership night or weekend away, needing accommodation for your family and friends if you're having a local ceremony, or looking for a romantic getaway afterwards, give us a call. Our Four Poster, Imperial and King Size rooms are just the ticket for getting you underway on your new life together. For your Civil Partnership, Hen or Stag party needs, try www.pazzaz-civil-weddings.co.uk.

Tripadvisor

All our reviews are genuine and unsolicited. That's why we have poor ones as well as good (we appreciate genuine or constructive criticism but cannot really understand why a few people have to be so nasty).

Any place, however good, will not please everybody. If someone is 'amazed' that they get soft towels, free hot chocolate, shower gel, a map of Brighton or advice on where to eat or drink from the owners of their hotel or guesthouse then they must never have left home before. We'll give you all these things but hope you'd expect that kind of service and that it doesn't come as a surprise - it shouldn't!

What you get at the Avalon is as good as anything comparable and in most instances much better. And if things are not to your liking, tell us - we welcome constructive comments and (reasonable) suggestions and will work harder than anyone to put them right. A recent complaint about a noisy bathroom fan has prompted me to search out and fit some quieter fans (they cost twice as much and to be honest don't sound much quieter!).

Seagull Update (4 July 2009)

Fred and Rose cleverly built a nest on top of the plastic spikes put up to deter them. They used them to anchor their nest more firmly than ever!

My prediction that they would work their way round the spikes was correct.

And they have had two chicks, both of which fell off the roof into yard of the house behind. This always infuriates the woman there because her backyard become unusable for weeks on end. And it terrifies her cats.

So here we are 4 July and ... one of the chicks has mysteriously appeared on OUR flat roof. Next to wonderfully protective parent.

Don't be intimidated as you pass!

5pm.....

It's never ending. There was another chick from Fred and Rose on an adjacent roof which, whilst I was in the kitchen making a red onion relish for some homemade burgers tonight, suddenly fell off into our yard (well, the shed roof) with a thump. I left it there awhile remembering: 'do nothing because the parents will feed it...'. But then I thought: 'Well, the parents can't get down there to feed it because they cannot get back up'.(Seagulls do not do vertical take-offs). Then it started to whine with hunger especially at the smell of my cooking although that's a common occurrence.

So using a combination of step ladder and extendable ladder which George held onto I climbed atop the shed roof (keeping flat to spread my weight). The poor creature slinked into the top corner and hid behind a drainpipe certain I could not see its cunning hiding place. I carefully clutched it and popped him into a pillowcase (sorry, Cannon Laundry Co.!) and handed him carefully down to George. We all trooped up to the first landing which leads onto our flat roof and tipped him unceremoniously out. The other chick immediately waddled over and led him back to the far corner under the watchful eye of Fred who seconds before had been swearing at me in seagull but now seemed glad to see two of his offspring back together (but see below...).

Rose arrived back a few minutes later and looked astonished. 'How did you manage that?' She asked Fred. 'Don't you worry yourself about such trivia just get on with feeding them!' was his reply. I expect. They're darned clever these critters - even speaking English...

UPDATE 7 AUGUST 2009

You see that cute little fluff ball in the picture? Plus the other one monetioned above they are now the size of their parents. Intriguingly the second seagull I mentioned did not belong to Fred and Rose at all. It is a herring gull and the mother spends all day on an adjacent flat roof swearing at it, me, Fred and Rose and just about anything larger than a housefly. Undeterred, its adoptive parents have fed it as well as their own to the extent both chicks would now qualify for a 'medium' sticker in the oven-ready stakes.

They are are almost ready to fly and I have to say it will be a relief. The flat roof will keep us in guano for months. There is a collection of bones and other detritus I shall have to clear when they are gone.

You'd think seagulls would take to the air with ease, but it's a laborious process and they shriek like foxes as they try - they sound terrified their frantic wing-flapping might actually get them airborne and, if they find themselves aloft, what they can possibly do to get safely down again. I suppose it's like riding a bike but they don't have the benefit of stabilisers.

Our guests have the benefit of earplugs though. Other guesthouses on this street get TripAdvisor reviews moaning about the terrible racket the seagulls make all night (probably our ones). So I have made a poster explaining that seagulls were here for thousands of years before us and the breeding season though loud, and coinciding with the summer rush, is fairly short. And I've supplied earplugs for people who want a quiet night. And just be thankful you don't sleep beneath the flat roof like I do - it sounds like they are playing a game of rugby up there most nights.

10 AUGUST - flat roof fully vacated. They;re both back in the yard of the house behind where at least one of them came from in the first place. Ha!

I''ll keep you posted however as these tend to be getting rather long I'll post them on www.avalonbrighton.blogspot.comand this is where I'll put lots of other stuff too in future.