Stay Lifehacks

One of the best ways to get out into the local culture is to spend an evening in the hotel’s traditional pub. It’s a real village local, not just a hotel bar. Now here’s your chance to enjoy a pint of real English ale, have your fill of good classic pub food, and be neighborly with friendly local inhabitants. And that’s authenticity-that’s much of what Old World country life may have been like at an inn.

To get the best out of your visit to Winnie-the-Pooh's "home," the first thing you have to do is to visit the Pooh Corner shop in nearby Hartfield (It's not that far from the car or a long walk). There you can buy a map of the "Pooh Country" walks. This map will take you through Ashdown Forest to all the places so famous from the books, like the "Enchanted Place," and the "Sandy Pit where Roo plays." It makes, for grown-ups and also for children, just a forest walk a magical adventure.

Use the hotel as your strategic base for exploration of the wider High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Stunning stately homes, castles, and gardens abound within a short drive to Wakehurst Place, the wild country estate of Kew Gardens with a great botanic garden, and the Millennium Seed Bank; and Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, is a short driving distance also and makes a fantastic day trip.

Because of the age of the building and the fact it sits above a known lively pub, one simple hack for a better night’s sleep is to be specific about your room when you book. Ask for one of the higher floors well towards the back of the building far away from both the main road and the front entrance to the pub. This should cut much of that noise at least some distance, helping you make your way through an otherwise peaceful night in what is a pretty great location for a hotel.