Boys Hall

Style

Boy wonder

Setting

Kentish gardens

It may be called Boys Hall, but this 17th-century manor house five minutes from Ashford International train station has reached peak maturity. There are sophisticated Kentish delights to be devoured in its timber-framed restaurant, nine gorgeous grown-up bedrooms, an oak-panelled pub, a wild country garden and, if you still weren’t convinced, a very fetching beard of green on its quintessentially English façade.

Facilities

Rooms

Nine, including five suites.

Checkout

11am (late check-outs until 1pm can be purchased for an extra £40, subject to availability). Earliest check-in, 3pm.

More Details

Rates usually include breakfast, which involves homemade granola, sourdough toast, pastries, fresh fruit, and Boys Hall honey.

Also

The restaurant and ground-floor spaces are wheelchair-friendly, but unfortunately no rooms have been specifically adapted due to the age of the building.

Free Internet Access

On-Site Restaurant

Room Service

At the Hotel

Restaurant, pub, terrace, wild country garden, and sunken lawn. In rooms: Super-king-size beds, pure cotton bedlinen, free tea, coffee and water, a Roberts radio and earplugs (though every effort has been made to reduce noise in rooms, sometimes it does travel along the 17th-century walls).

Our Favourite Rooms

Boys Hall’s storied past bulges out of the walls and oak-timbered ceilings of its rich, textured rooms. Ancient oak furniture dominates but not stuffily, and details such as mullion windows and four-poster beds will have you pining to return again to try them all. As for a favourite, the Franklin is in one of the most original parts of the house and sits above the pub – so is suitable if, like us, you’ll be propping up the bar until closing. The Romney might just take first prize for its shadowy history: it was here that a smuggler’s secret hatch and pulley system was found, leading down to the remains of two tunnels in the cellar.

Packing Tips

Bring an appetite.

Also

The hotel can arrange a mobile therapist who’ll visit your room to provide a range of treatments. Pre-booking is required.

Children

Despite the name, Boys Hall is aimed primarily at adults. Children are welcome to stay but the hotel makes no additional provision for them.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

In winter, get close (but not too close) to the walk-in fireplace. In the summer, plonk yourself outside on the patio.

Dress Code

Boys Hall’s parade of former residents include both smugglers and landed aristocracy, so why not be restrained with just a touch of naughtiness?

Hotel Restaurant

Boys Hall really is centred on the restaurant, with its tall ceiling, magnificent reclaimed beams, giant fireplace and glass walls that overlook the patio and gardens, from which many of the ingredients in the kitchen are sourced. Chef Charlie Dilworth and his team cook over flame and coal using an asado-style grill they’ve named Jolene. And there may not be a better champion of Kentish cuisine in the whole county. Start the day with the man-sized Boys big English, fresh fruits or homemade granola with the estate’s honey. Be careful not to overstuff yourself because the lunch and dinner menu features dishes such as grilled Romney Marsh lamb with tomato fondue, rosemary potato, pickled morels and tarragon; Rare Breeds pork t-bone with Kent apple cider; crispy polenta with halloumi, confit fennel and spring vegetables; and steak with bone-marrow peppercorn sauce. And to not wash it down with a sparkling English wine from Tenterden or Canterbury would be, well, just rude.

Hotel Bar

The Boys Hall pub is a drinking den for the ages. Like a well-aged single malt – or the oak panels that line the walls here – its charm and character has only improved over the years. Naturally, you’ll find local ales on cask, as well as superbly mixed cocktails and a great selection of wines, many of them of the English (specifically Kentish) variety.

Last Orders

Breakfast is from 8.30am to 10.30am; lunch from noon to 2.30pm and for dinner from 6pm to 9pm. On Sundays, lunch and dinner are replaced roasts, served between noon and 4.30pm. The pub is open from noon to 11pm (8pm on Sundays).

Room Service

There’s no room service menu but drinks and snacks will be happily brought to you.

Planes

London Gatwick is the nearest airport, about an hour’s drive from the hotel. London Heathrow should take about one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half hours by car, depending on traffic on the M25. Alternatively, take a train from Heathrow to Paddington, then a Tube to St Pancras International – the station with a direct rail line to Ashford, Kent. Airport transfers can be arranged by the hotel.

Trains

Ashford International is the nearest station, just a five-minute cab ride away. Eurostar trains no longer stop here, but you’re only 45 minutes from London St Pancras on this line. The hotel can arrange a transfer from the train station for between £10 and £12.

Automobiles

There are 40 parking spaces at Boys Hall, allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Top priority is to stroll through Boys Hall’s wondrously wild garden, a leafy enclave seemingly airlifted into comparatively homogeneous Ashford. It’s so lovely, we’d recommend getting your hands dirty on one of the hotel’s workshops, such as the wild classroom where you can hone your fire-making and outdoor-cooking skills. There are ceramics, terrarium and bouquet-making sessions available, too. A 10-minute drive away is the Kent Cookery School as well as the Green Farm spa, whose wellness treatments draw on the surrounding woodland and meadows. You’re also within driving distance of seven local vineyards, known as the Wine Garden of England, so a tour of Biddenden, Simpsons, Gusbourne et al could conceivably be undertaken in one (fairly boozy) day. Then, there’s nearby Canterbury for cathedrals (well, one famous one, anyway) and punting; Howletts Wildlife Park, with tigers, gorillas and rhinos; and the coast – arty Folkestone is 20 minutes away; bleak-yet-oddly-beautiful Dungeness is 45 minutes; and quiet, cute Deal is a 50-minute drive from the hotel.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .