Hotel of the week: The Big Sleep, Eastbourne

The Big Sleep shares its name with Raymond Chandler's "genre-defining" detective novel – but the comparisons stop there – says The Times. Still, the book's "no-nonsense" protagonist, Philip Marlowe, would doubtless approve of a hotel that offers such solid service at such a good price.

The décor is flamboyant: I liked my room, with "black chandeliers like spiders and mirrors everywhere", but was unnerved

by the "queasily clashing" orange and green furnishings in the bar. The Eastbourne hotel belongs to a chain of three, part-owned by the actor John Malkovich; the others are in Cardiff and Cheltenham.

Rooms cost from £45. Contact: 01323-722676; thebigsleephotel.com.