KENTSTAYCATION
A LUXURIOUS RETREAT IN THE HEART OF KENT :
THE PIG AT BRIDGE PLACE
WHERE RURAL BOLTHOLE MEETS ROCK ‘ N ’ ROLL PAST , BOUTIQUE HOTEL MEETS FARM-TO-TABLE AND SECLUDED ROMANTICISM WITH CONTEMPORARY HERITAGE IS A GUARANTEE , SAMANTHA READY IS MORE THAN READY FOR A PIG REVISIT ...
As busy town roads gave way to winding country lanes that caress the outskirts of Kent ’ s cathedral town of Canterbury , it was hard to believe that it had been so long since my first stay at the then newly opened sixth addition to THE PIG litter , THE PIG at Bridge Place .
Today , it ’ s hard to believe that it hasn ’ t always been here . Its kitchen gardens now bursting with produce , the animals meandering the estate grown in generational number , and the reputation for THE PIG at Bridge Place ’ s laid back yet luxurious boutique hotel and locavore restaurant offering solidified with a clutch of award wins and myriad of returning guests .
Offering the perfect combination of laid back luxurious boutique hotel with epitome of food miles , THE PIG at Bridge Place not only boasts those aforementioned busting kitchen gardens which dictate the hyper local menu offerings from the open kitchen restaurant , but also a speakeasy style gin bar , with many of the the ground ’ s botanicals found amongst the curated cocktail list , and an array of sumptuous bedrooms .
There are the seven characterful and traditional bedrooms found in the painstaking restored original Jacobean house , which is also home to cosy fireside lounges , hidden reading nooks and that gin bar . The beautifully sympathetic yet modern Coach House extension provides a further 12 contemporary bedrooms beside the courtyard , itself the perfect place for alfresco lunches or pre-dinner drinks , as well as being home to the main kitchen and dining room . While walks beside the Nailbourne stream take you first to the two family friendly lodges and onwards to the decked frontage of the seven Kentish Hop Pickers ’ huts , with their wood burning stoves and cosy double bedrooms sitting on stilts alongside the river .
Yet amongst all of this , and the panoramic Kentish countryside views aided by the estate ’ s own 10-acre plot of extensive grounds and gardens , there is yet one further very special abode – The Barn .
So special it was originally the owner ’ s own secluded bolthole pad , the spacious two-storey free-standing outbuilding , converted from the old stable block in the grounds , is a romantic ' s dream ; quadruple aspect , far-reaching views over the water meadows and kitchen gardens , and an interior finish mix of reclaimed timber , rough cast plaster and traditional fabrics , with contemporary touches of a monsoon shower , plump pillows and DAB radio .
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