Brightons Big Screen with ibis Hotels.
It's no secret that Brighton has been on the list of 10 places i'd like to visit in the UK for a considerably long time and to be honest it's because of the 3 hour train ride from Leicester there that fills me with dread. Me and Jordan hadn't had a 'summer holiday' as such this year, we took our holiday during Easter so when Ibis Hotels asked whether we'd like to head down to Brighton to attend one of the Brighton's Big Screen events, I obviously said yes.
Brighton is stunning. I don't think I've ever been to a new place and felt instantly comfortable. Our hotel, ibis Brighton City Centre* for the evening was literally a stone throw away from the train station which meant we were able to leave our suitcase in the safe hands of the hotel whilst we went and explored until it was time to check in.
The weather was pretty temperamental on our visit, not deciding whether it wanted to rain or shine for the duration of our first day. We had managed to miss the downpour when we first arrived, seeking shelter in our hotel for 20 minutes to enjoy a well earned beverage after the travel.
First up on our list was a explore of the city, with the infamous shopping area of The Lanes, plenty of vintage stores and comic book stores within 10 minutes of us walking from our hotel I had landed on my feet here. We thoroughly enjoyed waltzing through the streets and getting a look of the many different things on offer in Brighton, obviously we made time to get into the photo booth in PhotoMatic to capture a photo of us, a great keepsake and great at the price of £4 for 4 photos too! We also managed to capture some great photos whilst wandering down to the beach, there's so many great things on offer for you to capture and we definitely did make the most of it.
The sunshine did make an appearance in time for our first wander down to the seafront. Brighton is full of great places to eat, drink and relax on the seafront with some pretty damn epic views of both the Brighton Palace Pier and the remains of Brighton's East Pier. Brighton's Palace Pier is great if you'd like to wonder through the amusements available and to have some snacks whilst your there too, there's nothing like fresh doughnuts by the sea. Me and Jordan definitely couldn't resist from playing a bit of Euromix Dance Mat and Guitar Hero whilst there, great throwback for us too!
The sunshine also managed to stick around whilst we enjoyed a late lunch of fish and chips on the seafront, they were delicious! We also noticed that Brighton currently has a Zip Wire on it's seafront, which looks like great fun.We couldn't resist trying some of the gelato from Boho Gelato before relaxing in our hotel for a couple of hours.
The Brighton's Big Screen event is providing a summer of movies and liver entertainment until the 28 August 2017 on Brighton's sea front and minutes away from the Brighton Palace Pier. Europe's largest outdoor cinema is past for it's sixth year with an amazing line up for everyone to enjoy. It's line up includes new releases like La La Land, Moonlight and Moana as well as much loved favourites like The Lion King, Grease and Legally Blonde. There is something for everyone to enjoy whether your looking for something for the family to enjoy or whether you'd like to head down to the beach to enjoy one of your favourite films of all time.
The ambience creating by this event is next to none with a range of snacks, drinks and hot food on offer during your visit. There's a few deck chairs on offer for you to snuggle under a blanket to enjoy the film, creating the perfect evening as the sun goes down. However, ibis has added an extra to the experience that we got to try out. Their ibis Sweetbeds are comfortable double beds situated at the back of the place, there's nothing like watching films in bed so ibis have created that on the beach! For £25pp you can enjoy one of these beds, a comfortable and cosy double bed with pillows which is great for the more chiller evenings that summer brings. If you'd like to go the whole cohort then for an added £10 per person you can take the full hospitality package, it includes some extras like popcorn and a drink!
We booked to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show, one of Jordan's favourite films and such a great musical anyway! We absolutely loved getting to know the people in the bed aside us, enjoying some prosecco with them and getting on the beds to sing and dance along to the Time Warp as it sung out towards us on the film. Also watching in awe as the entire audience in front of us also joined in too! The staff really spoilt us during the evening, making sure our drinks were topped up nicely and that we were comfortable. The sunset really provided the ideal atmosphere for the evening, it may have begun to get chilly during the film but being all snuggled up under the covers kept us nice and toasty!
I didn't want to leave the bed once the film was done, I was enjoying the comfort of the double bed far too much! This would hand on heart be an event I would pay and attend myself.
There's still enough time to see some great films before the season is done, with Frozen, Live - Quadrophenia (Tribute) and Hairspray to name a few!
Thanks to ibis Hotels and Brighton's Big Screen for creating a great night to remember as summer comes to a close for another year.
*Collaboration with ibis Hotels in return for this review. All opinions and photos are my own.