Brighton, England

 

Brighton

Brighton rocks for music fans, with intimate venue Komedia, Fatboy Slim’s beach party and massive regular collectors’ fairs at the Conference Centre hosted by www.vinylmanenterprises.com.

There’s even a rock hotel, the Pellirocco. From the outside it looks like another staid Georgian guest house on Regency Square. Step through the front door and you’re in a fantasy of rock-themed bedrooms. Sink into the white shag-pile of the Ocean Room, luxuriate on a red heart-shaped bed or re-live the glory days of punk. Office parties, hen nights and romantic trysts keep the Pellirocco busy so book in advance.

The Ocean Rooms are a nightclub –one of many in this party town. The hotel’s released its own CD and in the bright pink bar the cocktails have a musical flavour. Try the Poor Man’s Supernova, (Babycham not proper bubbly) or Love Potion Number 5 (vodka, cointreau, cranberry and lime). The owner’s also opened a sex shop called She Said. It’s not on the premises but tucked away in a nearby back alley. This all sounds a bit gay, but hotel spokeswoman Jane Slater assures me they welcome all sorts – including most touring bands playing Brighton…

The gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender scene is huge in Brighton, yet friendly and welcoming to straight couples, singles and students from the two universities. Check out the vintage clothes and large-size high-heeled shoes in Oxfam. Or if you want to spend real money try the quirky little shops in the Lanes. Here you’ll find the UK’s only independent perfumery, Pecksniff’s, a jewellery quarter including the affordable and hip Au, an old-fashioned sweet shop with gobstoppers, Montezuma chocolate and a treasure trove of gift shops. The Friends Meeting House hosts Fair Trade Markets selling everything from sea-glass necklaces to Palestinian olive oil. Find more treats in North Laine at Pokeno Pies (authentic pie, mash and liquor), the Wicked sex shop and Borderline Records, whose regular customers include crate-diggers from as far away as Wimbledon.

So, is there more to Brighton than sex, shops and rock ‘n’ roll? You bet! The town is also a family-friendly seaside resort with pebble beaches, fish ‘n’ chips and a funfair on Palace Pier (the burnt-out West Pier burnt is now just a rusty skeleton).$ Beach volleyball, cycling and skating are big sports and the town has a football club, Brighton and Hove Albion, known as the Seagulls. In the Sea Life Centre you can stroke a stingray and eyeball a shark.

Visit the Pavilion stately home, a glorious Russian-style onion-domed palace. There’s a festival every May and a year-round welcome from the place that is built on fun and individuality – so much so that each of its buses has its own name (Dusty Springfield is my favourite) and they run all through the night so you can always get home safe. London is fifty minutes away by train and its attractions make Brighton equally good for a day trip, a night out or a dirty weekend.