Jeake’s House
Creeper-clad and atmospheric, Jenny Hadfield’s B&B stands on the steep, cobbled main street of this medieval hilltop town. More
Good Hotel Guide Review
Creeper-clad and atmospheric, Jenny Hadfield’s B&B stands on the steep, cobbled main street of this medieval hilltop town. It occupies a glorious agglomeration of 17th-century merchant’s house and adjacent listed buildings, including a former wool store and a chapel. Each bedroom has its own charms; the best are named after notable people associated with the house. Steep stairs lead up to Conrad Aiken (who owned the house from 1924), with an antique four-poster. Malcolm Lowry (who visited Aiken here) has a toile-draped antique four-poster, a roll-top bath and walk-in shower. You can relax by a log-burner in the parlour, and help yourself to drinks in the theatrically styled bar. Breakfast, cooked by Richard Martin, and served in the galleried former chapel, brings award-winning sausages, free-range eggs, oak-smoked haddock and smashed avocado on toast. ‘We loved the deep red walls of the dining room, with old prints and two great portraits. Breakfast was one of the best ever, with devilled kidneys,’ writes a trusted reader. Private parking is a ‘boon’. (Richard Bright, MA, and others)
Hotel details
Address
Mermaid Street
Rye
Sussex
TN31 7ET
England
Telephone
01797 222828
Bedrooms
11.
Open
all year.
Facilities
parlour, bar/library, breakfast room, in-room TV (Freeview), unsuitable for disabled.
Background music
chamber music in breakfast room.
Children
not under 8.
Dogs
allowed in bedrooms, public rooms, on leads and ‘always supervised’, not in breakfast room.
Credit cards
MC, Visa.
Prices
per room B&B £99–£225. 1-night bookings sometimes refused Fri/Sat.
Other reviews
Good Hotel Guide articles about
Jeake’s House
- Britain magazine: 10 of the best B&Bs in Britain
- Britain Magazine: 10 of Britain’s best historic hotels
- USA Today: 20 of Great Britain’s most unusual hotels
- Evening Standard: 5 of the best hotels in Sussex
- Mirror.co.uk: Britain’s Top 10 B&Bs
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