Review: Harbour Hotel Chichester Staycation

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Two weeks ago we had the chance to elope for a staycation: just me and my husband and the kids were deposited at grandma for a sleepover. We try to do this in every few months, it’s important to carve some couple-time out of the everydays and rediscover ourselves and each other again. 

So off we went to Chichester, one of our favourite places in England, being a pretty little harbour town by the sea, easy to to get to from London (even on the train). We had tickets to watch Macbeth in the festival theatre (we love the summer theatre festival there) and booked into the Harbour Hotel. There are a couple of great hotels in Chichester like the Goodwood Hotel (not technically in Chichester, but quite close)

Chichester Festival Theatre

One of the UK’s leading producing theatres, it plays a crucial role in the cultural life of southern England, known for world-class drama, musicals, and innovative performances. The smaller Minerva (part of the festival Theatre) stage premieres new work and intimate revivals, often transferring new productions to London West End. 

Set in the beautiful Oaklands parkland, at the heart of a cathedral city of Chichester. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, it was opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. 

The Harbour Hotel

The Harbour Hotel is located in the historic old town of Chichester, a stone throw from the festival theatre and the beautiful recreation ground. It’s a boutique hotel, it has only 37 rooms. It’s nicely renovated and it has on site parking space too. 

We arrived fairly late and as we had theatre tickets, we didn’t have too much time but wanted a drink in the bar. The bar looks great (and was busy!) and the staff is really nice – however it was Saturday late afternoon and they were pretty slow. We waited over 20 minutes for a glass of wine (had cork in it which was spotted by the waiter so he had to open another one – but well done spotting it!) and an Old Fashioned. 

What Was The Room In The Harbour Hotel Like?

The room was small but we booked a standard double only. There’s no complain about the outside noise (as the room on the first floor was facing to the street) but the bed was so creaky that it kept waking me up! That was really disturbing. There was no minibar either – where have the minibars gone from 4 star hotels these day?

It was spotlessly clean, however a bit dark and the decoration was nice too apart from this picture on the wall, which we failed to explain (good dirty jokes though), what does that even mean?? 

I obviously we did not use any of the fancy mini toiletries or cotton pads in the bathroom, but we did use the soap (and then took it home with me instead of wasting it, just wrap it back and take it home).

We went back to the bar and had a drink after theatre, and it was still busy, seemingly a very popular place to have a drink.

What’s the Breakfast Like in The Harbour Hotel?

The breakfast was very good, there were plenty of choices and vegetarian/vegan options also available. The service was quick and attentive. We thought it was definitely worth paying for it.

There is a good looking spa with treatments but we didn’t try it – I only took some photos:

Is it Worth Staying in The Harbour Hotel Chichester?

All in all it was ok, I’d probably stay again, but would book a better room as they look very nice on the homepage. We paid around £150 for the room including full breakfast.