THE FACTS ABOUT BLANCH HOUSE

England

If you get past the telephone screening, you'll enjoy Blanch House. 'We are careful who we take, they have to fit in,' says owner Amanda Blanch of her London-centric, thirty-something clientele, which includes Norman Cook, Noel Gallagher and Damon Albarn. The new 12-room hotel in Brighton is in an unprepossessing location on a shabby street where the rubbish piles up, a minute's walk from the seafront. Perhaps this is part of its appeal. It is the brainchild of Blanch, a one-time music PR, and her partner, Chris Edwardes, former bar manager of London's Groucho Club, The Pharmacy and GE Club (the Liverpool Street hangout of Tracey Emin etc) so the cocktails are good and the bar is known to stay open until the sun comes up. Not a problem for hedonists (breakfast doesn't start until 9am), but some may find the laid-back approach frustrating (desks in the bedrooms are too small to work at should you need to; the restaurant is closed on Sunday evenings). Detail is predictable (Molton Brown toiletries); the design, by Blanch, is quirky (plastic blooms nailed to the wall in the 'Rose' room), and the chef, Cy Gwynne, formerly with Gordon Ramsay, is well regarded. COST Doubles £100-£125 CONTACT Blanch House, 17 Atlingworth Street, Brighton (01273 603504; fax: 689813; e-mail: info@blanchhouse.co.uk; www.blanchhouse.co.uk)