My husband booked the holiday accommodation. I liked his choice. Great location. Beautiful sea view. Handy to people-watch and traffic. Pricey, yes. A treat. Certainly yes.

My husband, my parents-in-law and I arrived a little after 3pm, the check-in time at The Gallery. As it was late December, it was already dark and cold. The right setting for my vivid imagination. I felt like I was in an old-fashioned crime thriller. We were given a key collection instruction to the holiday apartment. It said the lockbox was attached to a park railing underneath a sign post, not by the bus stop but in front of a hotel. Hmm… My husband drove, so I jumped out of the car to carry out the direction. The road was narrow, nowhere to wait and a car was behind us. I fiddled with the lockbox, and opened it on my first attempt. A code was provided to retrieve some keys. One key opened the front door of the building while the other two plus another code were needed to enter our abode.

Once inside, all four of us, were intrigued. A long and narrow corridor greeted us immediately. Very near the entrance, on the right was a large kitchen and a sitting area.  We were excited because it was and wasn’t quite what we had expected. We walked past the first corridor, dropped our bags in the second corridor and walked on past two other corridors/sections to the bottom of the flat. And, there it was – the massive master bedroom with a skylight dome. It was the dome, in the booking website, which sold it to us.

I have seen domes in grand buildings. But never in an apartment, and certainly not taking pride of place in a bedroom. The cannot-be-missed see-the-sky dome was magnificent. It made me think of a cathedral or a museum minus the spiky round chandelier. But, not an art gallery that it was in Victorian days. The walls had an undone appearance. A work in progress. Or was that the intended look? The bedroom was huge and could have slept all four of us as there was enough room for another double bed. It was curious. In a fun and spooky sort of way.

From the master bedroom, along a shorter corridor, to the left was a walk-in wardrobe with too many shoe horns. And, a ‘must-have’ sparkly silver disco ball light/chandelier. On the right was a large old-fashioned bathroom. An archway led into an entertainment/sitting room. It was so big that it held an U-shaped leather sofa, a TV and a fire place. And, some board games for added amusement. Off the left of this section was a door that accessed two colourfully painted rooms with en-suite bathrooms and electric operated skylights. Hence, the thoughtful presence of sleep masks on the side tables in all three bedrooms.

From the entertainment/sitting room, we walked back into corridor number 2. This corridor had a long and paint-worn bench that seemed to have its own allure plus steps leading to the roof terrace that was inaccessible. The kitchen and lounge area were equally interesting. I opened all the cupboards and drawers. They were well stocked. Cooking implements, cereals, pasta, condiments, coffee, tea – opened and used and some not. A lived-in feel. Except for fresh milk. My mum-in-law said she felt like the owner or whomever lived there would walk in the door at any moment, and wonder what we were doing there.  

From the windows in corridor 2 and kitchen, we sort of understood the layout of our rented apartment. It appeared to be the largest at over 2,000 sq. ft., in the 4 storeys high plus a basement property. It stretched all the way from the front door to the very end of the building. The skylights in all three bedrooms meant the flats on level 3 and 4 did not sit or cover that floor area of our accomodation. There was also an atrium that allowed more light into the apartment. It had so many doors and stuff that I only discovered another toilet off corridor 1 on day two of our stay.

Decor ranged from the unusual to the beguiling. Pictures, swans, medicine bottles, candle holders, picnic baskets, bird cage, mask, animal head and other wall adornments. While we enjoyed the stay in the apartment, we also visited Brighton Palace Pier, Brighton Marina and The Lanes. We watched ‘ Pricilla Queen of the Desert’ at the Theatre Royal Brighton, and enjoyed many delightful meals at interesting restaurants and cafes. It was a happy holiday, and I would like to revisit Brighton to experience its other attractions and savour its enjoyable cuisine.