Inn with the new at The George in Rye

Andrew Neather
5 Aug 2009

My tolerance of middle-English kitsch is low. Quaint provincial towns stuffed with brassy antique emporia and oak-panelled tea shops put me on a hair trigger.

Yet despite historic Rye, in ­Sussex, leaning in this direction, it's impossible not to like. The cobbled streets leading up the little hill the town is built on are ridiculously picturesque.

The pretty jumble of Tudor and Georgian houses are mostly still homes, not gift shops. The views are ravishing, with the one from the church tower at the very top of the town quite spectacular.

Still, it's comforting to know that you can escape to a corner that is forever Soho, and The George in Rye fulfils this function admirably.

Opened in 2006 by Katie and Alex Clarke (Alex is the brother of Sam Clarke, co-owner of Clerkenwell's Moro), The George is a complete — and expensive — makeover of what had previously been a scuzzy modern incarnation of an 18th-century coaching inn.

The inviting bar area has stripped beams but there the olde worlde ends, the rest being sleek wood, modern fabrics and leather. There is an irresistible garden bar in the courtyard beyond.

Similarly, the small lounge and restaurant are closer to Soho House than to your average provincial boozer. It is a successful formula in every sense: next year the George will expand into a neighbouring Victorian building, adding further rooms to its present 24.

And it is in the rooms, with their carefully chosen furniture and fabrics, that the designer's eye is clearest: cool, chic but understated. It's not as designed as many boutique hotels, nor yet irritatingly “stressed”: that shabby-chic balance — for instance, in the elegant but non-matching wardrobe and slightly scuffed chest of drawers in our room — reflect Katie Clarke's background as a set-dresser for feature films. (Naturally they have the wi-fi broadband and flat-screen TVs you'd expect.)

We had a suite of two rooms. My wife pondered how to fit our three children into the smaller of the two and its queen-size bed. Glancing towards our sofas, full-length mirror, double-size roll-top bath and vast bed, I suggested that perhaps they would be better off in the big room. “You must be joking, they're not having this,” snorted my wife territorially and marched off to get an extra mattress from housekeeping.

As we fed the children an early supper, I was sorely tempted by the bar snacks — fairly priced chorizo, seafood empanadas, boquerones and more (I did return next morning and was well satisfied, if over-full, having already consumed very good eggs Benedict at breakfast). The main bar menu is equally inviting.

There are more ambitious pickings at The George's restaurant, headed by Rod Grossman, formerly at Moro. The menu is dominated by local seasonal ingredients. Thus you might start with steamed mussels or smoked haddock brandade, followed by Romney Marsh lamb or seafood paella.

Yet while the food is good, it left me a little underwhelmed: the gazpacho was uninspiring and while the ribeye steak was perfectly cooked, its black peppercorn garnish was far too strong. It doesn't have the confidence it should, a feeling reinforced by an all right-but-not-great wine list.

There is a choice, though. Rye boasts a surprising number of decent restaurants, to say nothing of some fantastic old pubs. For my money, the most charming eaterie is Tuscan Kitchen (8 Lion St, 01797 223269).

This fabulously authentic trattoria is trapped inside the body of Peacocke Rye, an olde worlde tea shop that owners Jen and Franco Bochecchio moved into two months ago.

I exaggerate: the genuine medieval décor put me more in mind of Arezzo than Earl Grey, but in any case the lovingly sourced organic salume, ham and cheese and superb homemade pastas are the main event (their Tuscan wine list would shame a fair few London Italian restaurants, too).

Rye's chocolate-boxiness is also counterbalanced by the sheer oddness of this corner of East Sussex and Kent, with the flat expanse of Romney Marsh stretching east towards Dungeness, its nuclear power station clearly visible up the coast from Rye Harbour.

This spot a mile and a half down the road from Rye proper offers a path out to a huge, windy shingle beach, bordered by Rye Nature Reserve, where there are various family-friendly activities over the summer (admittedly, my six-year-old son was more interested in the Second World War-era bunkers up near the beach).

To the east, Camber Sands stretches for miles, with dunes particularly great for small children. Then there are the area's many castles and the like: while there's much in Hastings and the nearby battlefield site at, er, Battle, we headed half an hour north-west to Bodiam, site of surely the most perfectly preserved, moated castle just about anywhere.

But by then we were sadly on our way home: instead of a pint and another empanada at The George, I had to settle for a punnet of Kentish cherries en route to the M20. There are worse ways to end a weekend break.

Take three: Great Rye retreats

Jeake's House, a 16th-century, five-star, award-winning hotel, has just four rooms in lavish pastoral-style, all named after literary and artistic figures — both visitors to Rye and former residents of Jeake's House — including novelist Malcolm Lowry and the lesbian poet and author Radclyffe Hall. Breakfast (local and seasonal) is in the red galleried dining room, formerly a meeting place of the Rye Quakers.

Doubles from £112 B&B, www.Jeakeshouse.com

The White Vine House dates from 1560 and has seven rooms with crisp linen and period furniture, organic toiletries, DVD players, free wi-fi and iPod docking stations.
The Vine Restaurant and Café serves handmade pizzas and burgers with a few à la carte dishes.

Doubles from £115, www.whitevinehouse.co.uk

Durrant House is a five-room, two-suite B&B (also available for excusive use) in a Grade II-listed Georgian building full of charm, four-posters and creaky floorboards. Children welcome, mobility difficult.

Doubles from £95 B&B.www.durranthouse.com

Way to go

The George in Rye 98 High Street, Rye, East Sussex TN3 7JT, 01797 222114, Www.thegeorgeinrye.com, Doubles with breakfast from £125 per night.