In the 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond, it became very popular as the place to run off to for the proverbial ‘dirty weekend’. Hotel booking registers then showed a predominance of Mr and Mrs Smiths seeking the sea air and other delights during their weekends away.
It's come a long way since those days.Today Brighton (and Hove) is a bustling City that never seems to sleep. An incredible 8 million visitors are estimated to descend on this Victorian gem each year.
Brighton is considered to be one of the UK's premier night-life hotspots and is also associated with many popular music artists.
There are a large number of events and performance companies operating in Brighton with an enormous variety of unique and interesting acts and performers.
There are over 300 pubs and clubs in the town.
With all this highly valued activity going on, accommodation can be difficult to find especially in the summer and at weekends.
Visitors beware when venturing here for a break. Accommodation is very variable and not always cheap.
Would be visitors would be well advised to do their homework well in advance of booking a bed for the night or longer.
An excellent websites offering reviews from people who have recently stayed in different local accommodation is TRIP ADVISOR - http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Tourism-g186273-Brighton_East_Sussex_England-Vacations.html.
Trip Advisor is, I understand, universally accepted as the definitive reference source with updated recommendations for those wishing to stay in accommodation anywhere in the world.
For Brighton it shows some 44 hotels and 99 Guest Houses or B & Bs as they are normally known.
A quick glance of the information immediately shows that the hotels in particular are not rated as highly as the top B & Bs are rated.
It would appear from the reviews, all things considered, that the smaller sized guest accommodation wins hands down against their larger and more expensive counterparts.
Currently the top 9 of the 99 B & Bs listed have a 5 star rating in terms of customer satisfaction. That equates to a very good or excellent approval rating by past guests. These seem to be the cream of available accommodation in Brighton.
At the other end of the spectrum, about 20 of these establishments are rated average or poor/terrible. Those somewhere inbetween these top rated and the bottom of the pile Guest Houses are probably so so and quite variable in what they offer their guests. So you have been warned!!
Out of the top 9, although they all received very good or excellent rating reviews, only MOTEL SCHMOTEL (http://www.motelschmotel.co.uk/) with its 11 newly refurbished rooms has a 99% rating for very good or excellent from the approximate 130 past guests posting reviews. 
This compares with slightly lower scores for all the others in the top 9 slots. Well done Schmotel, a great result.
What is even more interesting is that this extremely well run establishment in the centre of the town has an AA 3 Star Guest Accommodation rating while all the other top B & Bs in the list are in fact 4 Star. That is quite an achievement to be up their above its supposedly higher graded peers.
In addition to the 3 prestigious stars it has a Highly Commended notation from the AA as well as the coveted AA Egg Cup symbol indication a very special breakfast award from this highly regarded rating organization.
There is no doubt it does pay to research the accommodation before making a booking when visiting lovely Brighton.
