Boys Hall

‘So much more than your average restaurant-with-rooms, Boys Hall accompanies its delectable dishes with beautifully crafted rooms in a historic property.’ Despite the uninspiring location just five minutes from Ashford International, our inspectors were wowed by this gabled 17th-century manor which stands in ‘a secret garden oasis’. ‘Bedrooms surpass the standards of many in top-quality country-house hotels, blending the glories of ages past with contemporary comforts.’ Sovereign bedroom (a reference to coins, not Charles I, though he spent a night here in the Civil War) had ‘a carved oak four-poster, plush red sofa and compact shower room’. Don’t expect a TV, and be prepared for ‘sloping floors, quirky alcoves’. Complimentary tea and cakes are served in a lounge with fireplace, beamed ceiling and squishy sofas. In a glass-and-timber extension, seasonal all-day menus include ‘rump steak nicely crusted, enriched with smoky flavours from the firepit, and bone-marrow peppercorn sauce; exquisite-tasting John Dory, roasted kohlrabi, bisque, brown crab rouille’. Owners Brad and Kristie Lomas are much in evidence. ‘Staff are friendly, professional and obviously proud of their workplace.’