Designers fade into memory - Hotels go on forever...
Last time there was a serious French invasion of British shores the invaders were frightened away by Welsh militia supported by their wives, whose traditional red dresses and tall black hats were mistaken by the French troops for the busbies of the British Guards regiments. The French surrendered.
There were many smaller French raids on the British coasts and Rye, as a wealthy south coast port, was frequently a target. In one of those raids late in the sixteenth century, they set fire to the George. The current refurbishment is thus just another in a long line of makeovers that has kept this historic Inn at the centre of town life for over 500 years.
The Inn has been through a number of owners in recent years and suffered from being run primarily in latter days as a pub. It was with some interest I heard about a change of ownership, its closure and the new owners ambitious plans to turn it into a boutique hotel. When the opportunity came to pop down to the coast and see the changes for myself I took the opportunity to drive down.
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Artworks, graphics and signage have all been thought through to contribute to the reworking. Reception is a desk and settee, whilst the reception lounge is antique wood panelled with a large welcoming fireplace. Click the image to see external signage
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"In one raid late in the sixteenth century, they set fire to the George. The current refurbishment is thus just another in a long line of makeovers"
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Reception desk is informal, with a settee to 'queue' on, and is serviced by enthusiastic smiling, well trained, staff. Click the cross to see another view
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Old and new are carefully harmonised. Restaurant area is completely new and the same menu is served in the bar area, doubling the number of covers available. Menu makes use of local produce such as local fish and Romney marsh lamb
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The George straddles several roles successfully, being a pub with rooms, a boutique hotel and a place for business meetings and retreats.
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The new owners,Alex and Katie Clarke, working with architect designer Maria Speake of reclamation specialist Retrouvious, completely gutted the building. Despite its Georgian frontage much of the structure behind is 16th or 17th century. With a building of this age gutting is a bold move as you never know what is underneath. In the 1980’s I worked on the Inn as a designer for then Trusthouse Forte's Olga Polizzi. I was part of the team converting five bedrooms on the top floor into four en-suite rooms - bread and butter work for designers in the 1980's.
I discovered that the plasterboard walls dividing the bedrooms in the George had become load bearing as the ancient timbers underneath had given way, split by the loads they were carrying from additional water tanks added in previous refurbishment upgrades. It is very unusual to find load bearing wallboard... it was holding the broken ends of the timber uprights in place so that they still carried the load. Without the plasterboard, removed to make possible a replanning, the buildings framework moved!
Tackling any historic building carries risks that are not there in modern development or refurbishment of more recent structures. This did not deter the new owners who successfully completely replanned the ground floor, moving the bar into a more central position, remodelling and repositioning the restaurant and placing the reception desk as a focal point to the entrance lounge.
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the George Inn
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