Cool Place of the Day: YHA Brighton

Every day, a new place to discover or explore from coolplaces.co.uk

The hostel is funky, comfy and cheap but in a location, close to the Brighton pier, that pricey global chains would kill for

YHA Brighton, East Sussex

Some hostels are stuck in the dark ages, with basic facilities and giant dormitory rooms that make few concessions to comfort or modern conveniences – like, well, hot water. But this relatively new flagship Brighton YHA venture is riding a new wave of hostelling and has left all that behind, with a spruced-up central Brighton hotel that offers funky and also comfy accommodation on a budget in a location that many of the pricey global chains would kill for. Housed in a rather fine Regency building, the hostel is just a minute's walk away from Brighton Pier, but it would be one of the city’s best budget places to stay wherever it was located.

You can still pay by the bed in dorm rooms and it's great value, but they have a wide range of private guest rooms too. Choices range from three- to eight-bedded rooms, with a mixture of bunk and regular beds, to 17 boutiquey private double rooms with en-suite bathrooms on the top floor as well as 12 premium rooms with sea views. Overall it's a large place with over 150 beds in all but that doesn't mean you shouldn't expect a warm and friendly welcome. The building, too, is great, and has a café and bar, a kitchen for diehard self-caterers – plus a movie and, er, a karaoke room. The future of seaside hostelling in the UK.

Cool Places is a website from the creators of Rough Guides and Cool Camping, suggesting the best places to stay, eat, drink and shop in Britain (coolplaces.co.uk).