Home in Brighton and Hove

I aim to provide clean and safe accommodation to women visiting Brighton. Single occupancy only. Breakfast not included. I live high on a hill just outside the centre of town. There are wonderful views towards the South Downs and across Brighton to the coast. The downside is that you will have an invigorating walk uphill to my house, or you can get here by bus or taxi. Not suitable for home/remote workers. Please read my house rules and property description before booking. The space When I bought my hundred-year old house, I had plans to renovate and update it. Unfortunately I’ve not got as far as I wanted to due to the Pandemic. I’m not offering anything fancy and the price reflects that. On offer is a north-facing bedroom, overlooking the street - it’s on the first floor. It has a king-size bed, and two curtained recesses to hang clothes in. The floorboards are painted white. There is a foldaway table and chair which you can use if you need workspace. Please note this is my home - I do not have any locks or latches on my internal doors apart from the guest bathroom. However, I would never access my guest’s room without speaking to her first. The only exception to this promise is in case of emergency or if I believe that someone might be unwell. The mezzanine bathroom you would be using is down a flight of eight steps from the bedroom. This is listed as shared because I (or the occasional day-time guest) might use the toilet on this floor. I want my guests to visit me and have a good time, doing whatever makes them feel good. If you want to go out to a gig or club and come back late, fine! That’s my kind of lifestyle too. Just don’t be noisy when you come in - respect the neighbours please. I get on well with them, and want to keep it that way. Although I am a cat lover, I do not have cats of my own. However, my neighbours’ cats love to visit me - I may even be looking after them if their owners are away. Please don’t come if you are allergic to cats, as these cats have no boundaries and go all over my house. They are not allowed in the guest room. I do not allow smoking or vaping anywhere on my property, please do not book if you can’t stick to this. Guest access I have superfast BT fibre optic broadband. Due to the dangerous and inconsiderate behaviour of a few previous guests, access to my kitchen and cooking appliances is limited. Please don’t ask me to make an exception once you are here, or to cook items for you. Refusal tends to offend. (My pricing reflects that I don’t offer full kitchen use. If you want to cook from scratch, be prepared to pay more for a room!) Just to mention that I am a ex-chef and still love cooking so my kitchen fridge/freezer is always full. I have trouble fitting my own food into it at times, so I can’t accommodate items belonging to anyone else - there is a mini fridge in the room for guest use. I also supply everything you need to make a hot drink. There are lots of great cafes and restaurants on Lewes Road - this is a short downhill walk from my house. In central Brighton you really are spoiled for choice for places to eat, so it’s well worth making a trip into town. Have a look at my guidebook or ask me for suggestions. I am happy for guests to order a takeaway or bring food in and eat it at the dining room table if they wish. If you need to reheat anything, you may use the microwave. During your stay I am offering a place to stay for independent women, who are here wanting to go out and experience what Brighton has to offer. I am very friendly and happy to give help and advice on the local area. Contact me anytime if you are in trouble, but please don’t disturb me while I am working upstairs during the day, or at night unless it is urgent. You can quite often find me downstairs in the evening, I am happy to chat then. I value my privacy, and also understand that my guests need space. I have an active social life outside of Airbnb which I like to keep separate, so please don’t come expecting to interact with me a lot. I am not a languages teacher, if you wish to improve your spoken English there are schools in Brighton you can contact for help. I prefer not to allow prospective guests to instant book. I have the Airbnb app on my phone, so will see and respond to messages very quickly. Other things to note Just to reinforce this, my check in time is from 15.00-21.00. A minority of guests think this rule doesn’t apply to them, so let me get this straight. If you want to arrive at 2.30 in the morning, book a hotel room. I WILL NOT put keys to my house in the lockbox for late arrivers who I’ve never met. I also reserve the right to refuse you admission if you are late. Last summer one lady thought it was okay for her to arrive after 23.00, and did not have the manners to clear it with me. I was scheduled to work that night. I messaged her several times and got no response, and had to leave at just after 21.00. This guest ended up in Brighton with no place to stay because I could not return home to let her in. Airbnb agreed with me that she was rude and out of order, so she didn’t get a refund. Be warned. Please let me know what time you wish to check in when you book - if your plane or train will arrive in Brighton too late for you to check in on time, send me an enquiry and I’ll let you know if I can accommodate you. Leave plenty of time when you plan your travel. If you are flying into the UK, let me know your flight number, or coach / train arrival time. I understand that things can go wrong en route which are beyond your control; but please keep me updated on what is happening. If you are trying to book, you might find that I have marked a date as No Check In. I will have done this because I can’t be home in the afternoon or evening - send me an enquiry to see if there’s a way round this. If I know you I will put a key out in the lockbox. If you are new, we might be able to agree a check in time that suits us both. I am reluctant to have home workers staying here. The reason for this is that like many other British people, I just have my heating on in the morning and evening in winter. I’ve found that guests who are home workers want it on all day which isn’t happening in my house. Utilities have always been very expensive here in the UK, and the prices are about to go even higher. While I’m on that subject, I like the thermostat set at around 18-20c. I am very uncomfortable with a higher temperature. I realise that everyone is different, so If you are freezing in my house don’t suffer in silence. Please speak to me so that we can try and work something out. However, if we can’t come to an agreement I am happy to help you relocate to another airbnb. Parking is free at weekends, but restricted on weekdays. If you don’t have a Visitor Permit you will need to move your vehicle between 10-11am and 5-6pm, Monday to Friday. Please don’t take a chance and get caught out with a ticket. Traffic Wardens come up here frequently. There are details of free parking areas on the RoadTripHeroes website. Please be aware that some of the information may be out of date, and that there are few streets left in Brighton with no restrictions. More important, the people that live on them get very annoyed by their roads being used as a park and ride. You may get abused when you return to your car, or find it has been boxed in or damaged. Another solution to this problem is to park in Sainsbury’s car park at the bottom of the hill on Lewes Road. It is open 24 hours a day - you can drive in and out as you wish. You can reserve a place for whatever time period you need, at the Yourparkingspace website - search for Sainsbury’s BN2. Brighton and Hove council sell local residents Visitor Permits, priced at £2.75 per day. Unfortunately the allocation I get is limited - I don’t have any to spare at present. I am in parking Zone U - if you are visiting someone in this area ask if they can get permits There are two newsagents (details in my guidebook) near the station which offer bag storage for £6 per day. Bookings can be made through the Stasher website.