Every year The Good Hotel Guide awards 12 hotels with a Cesar Award. Inspired by Cesar Ritz, the most celebrated of hoteliers, they are dubbed the Oscars of hotel keeping and for 2024 Ashford-based Boys Hall Hotel, was one of the winners.
Good Hotel Guide described Boys Hall Hotel, a 17th century Jacobean Manor, as “head and shoulders above your average restaurant-with-rooms” and inspectors were wowed by the gabled 17th-century manor which stands in a “secret garden oasis”.
Run by husband-and-wife team, it took three years for Brad and Kristie Lomas to refurbish Boys Hall Hotel. They said: “We’re thrilled to have been named Best Hotel in the South in our first year of business, we truly never imagined such a wonderful response so soon after opening the hotel. It has been an incredible year for us, and we are so proud of the team and all our achievements to date.”
Offering nine ensuite bedrooms, five suites, each with original super-king beds (some four-poster), spacious bathrooms and idyllic window seats overlook the estate while four smaller bedrooms, though still luxurious and stately sized, are also offered. Each is individual in design and feel, with their own unique character taking inspiration from the local area and the people Boys Hall holds close to its heart.
The Ernest Room, for example is named after Major Ernest Bengough-Ricketts owner of Boys Hall in the late 1800’s, quite a character, a well-travelled man with a Masters in Heraldry and therefore designed with traveller-esq inspiration; porthole-style mirrors and Persian inspired fabrics of far-away lands. While Margaret is one of the softer, more feminine and elegant bedrooms playing homage to “Margaret Boys”, featuring floral and fauna print curtains and wallpapers, inspired by the lady of the manor who likely wandered the gardens.
“We wanted the interiors to feel individual, sympathetic to the building history and sumptuous but also like a home-from-home, with cosy, comfy-luxe interiors and heritage features, but with the opportunity to be a little bolder in design and colour due to the sheer size of the rooms.”
All rooms feature drench showers, fluffy towels, Roberts Radios, fine English linen on Hypnos beds, deliciously nurturing toiletries, locally roasted coffee complimented by a range of Debonair teas and infusions, complimentary water, wi-fi, and of course, homemade treats from the kitchen.
The couple believe their passion and love for hosting, the attention to detail and unique interiors, which were designed with help from Ben Stokes at KAGU Interiors, is what makes Boys Hall Hotel stand out. And their team, of course. “The team are amazing, which is a huge part of what makes a stay so great!”
There’s still lots to look forward to, too. “We have big plans to have nine garden cabins and are expanding our food and beverage offering into the grounds and collaborating with some exciting local producers and creatives to deliver some great events for our guests.”
B&B double rooms from £160 per night.
boys-hall.com
