New PIG at Bridge Place, Kent

Created in 2011 by Robin Hutson and David Elton of the Home Grown Hotels group, THE PIG hotels are relaxed, rustic retreats that herald the very best of sustainable hospitality. With five PIGS already established in some of the most beautiful rural locations around the UK, the founders have combined their love of home-grown produce with pioneering environmental values to create a true one-of-a-kind brand.

On the 30th of April this year, we will see the greatly anticipated opening of THE PIG-at Bridge Palace in Kent. The hotel will be similar to its sister boutiques based in the New Forest, Bath, Dorset, Devon, and Southampton by putting the kitchen garden at the very heart of the operation, but it will still very much forge its own identity in the litter.

THE PIG-at Coombe

Originally known as the Bridge Palace Country Club, the Grade II listed 17th-century manor house sits in the middle of the countryside, just outside the historic village of Bridge in the Nailbourne valley, three miles south of Canterbury, Kent. With its welcoming red brick façade and ornate Jacobean interiors, Bridge Place is an intriguing old building with a rock-n-roll vibe. For the past 50 years, the Kent property operated as a music venue where the likes of Moody Blues and Manfred Mann played during the 1970s.

The hotel group have updated the ‘red-bricked musical honeypot’ to offer 28 boutique bedrooms, however, the property’s quirky period features have been preserved, meaning that guests can enjoy exploring the secret stairways, nooks, crannies, and large fireplaces. There are plenty of cosy bars and sitting areas for relaxing and spending time with friends.

A transformation of this scale is no small feat, but the project has been in safe hands with acclaimed designer Judy Hutson at the helm, whose signature style has given THE PIG hotels their reputation for effortless, laid-back chic.

With far reaching views looking out over the countryside, the bedrooms all have the distinct PIG feel but with some exciting new additions.

There are 7 characterful bedrooms in the main house, 12 light and spacious rooms in the Coach House, 2 family-friendly lodges, and The Barn, a romantically rustic two-storey hideaway in the old stables. The Barn contains two treatment rooms and one huge upstairs-downstairs rustic bedroom, with private terrace and quadruple aspect overlooking the kitchen garden and water meadows.

For guests looking to enjoy a more organic experience, Kentish Hop Pickers’ Huts sit raised up on stilts along the riverbank in the grounds. Each one is made from reclaimed materials and has a double bedroom with a fitted bathroom and wood burning stove.

CEO of Home Grown Hotels, Robin Hutson, is ‘thrilled’ about the new PIG:

We’ve had a great couple of years, with customers seeming to love what we do. Occupancy is in the mid 90%s in our rural locations and we know from our guests and their invaluable feedback that they want more PIGs. After searching far and wide for truly unique properties, we really are over the moon about our new hotel in Kent.

A new Coach House will be home to the greenhouse restaurant and open kitchen, filled with signature PIG touches but feeling markedly different to its sister restaurants with a kitchen that opens up into the space, letting you in on the action.

At Westbury, we know how much dedication it takes to produce the highest quality products, so we admire the group’s commitment to homegrown and local produce, as all the venues in THE PIG collection celebrate the seasons by using only the best, freshest and most authentic foods and ingredients.

The kitchen gardens are certainly the beating heart of the operation, everything on the menu is created in collaboration between the kitchen gardener and the chef. Guests can enjoy uncomplicated and simple kitchen garden food, true to the micro-seasons with the emphasis squarely on fresh, clean flavours.

Beehives are kept in the gardens, with busy bees producing honey and helping to pollinate the garden, and mushrooms are grown using spent coffee grounds recycled from the restaurants. What cannot be produced in THE PIG’s kitchen garden is sourced within a 25-mile radius of each hotel, reducing food miles and packaging. Foraging also plays a key role, with ingredients collected from the countryside and from the coast by a forager with 40 years of experience in the field.

For bookings, visit https://www.thepighotel.com/book/ or call 0345 225 9494. Additional future openings include THE PIG-at Harlyn Bay in the Spring 2020 and THE PIG-on the South Downs in Summer 2020.