Hen Party and Team Building Accommodation in Brighton. A Black Cat Treasure Hunt Guide.

By Tim Carter (Owner of Black Cat Treasure Hunts)

Accommodation for a hen party or for a team building event can play a big part in deciding the best treasure hunt route for a personalised treasure hunt. One of the questions in my pre-event questionnaire is to establish whether the group have any preferences for where the hunt starts and finishes or whether they would like to leave that to me. 

Hen parties  often like to start at their accommodation and finish elsewhere, either for somewhere to drink/eat or to go straight into another activity. Occasionally the next activity or relaxation time will be back at their accommodation. A team building group more often tend to prefer a circular treasure hunt route, especially if they have booked in at a hotel. Even if they are going back out for a meal this allows them to freshen up and get changed.

I have surprised myself at noticing the trends where hen party accommodations are often based, particularly in Brighton. Large, comfortable houses with nice decor,sometimes quirkily themed. It gives me an advantage ,in terms of preparation of a hunt, to know that I have started routes from certain areas of the City. 
In Brighton, the Sillwood Rd/Sillwood St area over the Western side is a choice of many Hen groups. It is certainly brilliant for starting a treasure hunt route along the seafront. In contrast I have seen variously situated houses near the train station. This is great for hitting the interesting North Laine early on, certainly a favoured route of mine. A third cluster of houses are spread across Kemp Town, as far East as Bedford St. Taking this route can either give a fantastic view of the seafront ahead or if starting lower down ,say from St James` St, then I can choose to head the route through the famous Lanes or past The Royal Pavilion. Endless options which makes writing these great fun!
Team building treasure hunts starting from the hotels will often start right on the seafront. The skill then is to decide whether to head up a side road early on to take them centrally straight away or carry along by the sea for a while before heading inland. One benefit of the seafront based hotels is that it is quite easy to reverse the route and have two teams setting off at the same time on a circular route. This can be handy with bigger numbers taking part.
Away from Brighton it is always interesting to see where the accommodation has been selected, if that is where they want to start the treasure hunt from. A top treasure hunt setter should be capable of adapting to all situations. Only occasionally is it better to advise on a slight change of plan in order to maximise the best route in a chosen place.When the participants are not locals then they are undoubtedly  thankful for a sound suggestion to get more central to start, for example.
For those staying overnight for a hen party or team building then Black Cat can be a `reassuring friend` with suggestions on places to eat/drink or additional things to do. If you need help with that key, first step in accommodation choice then have a look at this little selection in Brighton, below.

https://www.crown-gardens.co.uk/    Great and large choice for hen party groups.
https://www.beatnikbreaks.com/        Small selection, but brilliant for large hen party groups.
https://www.oldshipbrighton.co.uk/   Large selection of conference rooms and the archetypal central,seafront location for team building choice.
https://www.grandbrighton.co.uk/       The classic `name` hotel. You know you want to.
https://www.malmaison.com/locations/brighton/  Sited in The Marina. Black Cat has organised a seafront train to link this hotel to the city for a treasure hunt before!
https://www.visitbrighton.com/accommodation   The tourist organisation for Brighton will give you the broadest selection of options to suit all budgets.