The Lydden Bell

Beautiful place to stay, Very modern clean room & bathroom, tastefully decorated, The bed was super comfy with lovely fresh linen, dressing gown & slippers were provided which is a great addition as many b&bs do not provide these, The room was cosy & had underfloor heating, The Staff were all friendly & helpfully, We booked a table for 13 last minute & even though the pub was very busy with people eating they accommodated us all, the service was spot on & food delicious all my guests commented on how lovely their food was, great job at such short notice, A beautiful friendly country pub in a lovely village with hill & counrty side views, would highly recommend as a place to stay & eat,

I don't normally write reviews but the Lydden Bell experience was so exceptional that I could not resist. The accommodation [Room 1] was very nicely presented and has obviously been revamped recently, in a nice easy-on-the-eye style. Very functional and perfectly adequate for the 3 nights we stayed, using it as a base to visit nearby places of interest. The food was exceptional too. Obviously using quality ingredients, all meals were stunningly good and the breakfasts too. Usually a 3 night stay can result in running out of preferences in the menu but certainly not here - I could have lasted a week! An astonishingly good and varied menu which caters for everyone. It is a shame that it is too far from Cambridgeshire to pop down. The Lydden Bell is now going to be the preferred places to stay when visiting this county in the future!

There are 2 Lydden Bell review locations on TripAdvisor: Check also https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g1916863-d5809509-Reviews-The_Lydden_Bell-Lydden_Kent_England.html We are a couple (M&F, in our 60's) who dined and stayed overnight in May 2023, prior to a Channel crossing on the Eurotunnel/Le Shuttle the next morning. Here is our impression, in chronological order: On arrival it appears that the car park is small and full but there is another, very spacious area behind & beside the pub. As we arrived during pub opening hours we didn't experience the complications of out-of-hours check-in. The 2 staff at the bar were friendly and obliging although a little harassed by having a pub full of Sunday lunchers to serve. A gentleman showed us to our accommodation, which are a series of chalets in the car park. The room was very clean and well presented, obviously newly decorated with an equally up to date bathroom. It is small however, with nowhere to sit comfortably as the only chairs are small, hard chairs at the table rendering this yet another of those accommodations where you spend "down time" using the bed to sit on. At this point we were told that the breakfast (included in the price & advertised as B&B) was served from 9am. We questioned the logic of this; surely anyone with a Channel crossing or indeed just needing to get to work, would need breakfat a good deal earlier? We were told that it is served from 08:30h in the summer (it was 14th May). We were offered a breakfast tray of cereals and croissants, which we were to collect at dinner that evening. Thence to the pub for drinks and dinner. We went earlier than is our custom simply because of nowhere to sit in our room (now I understand the ploy) and decided to eat early so we ordered at 19:10h, which was lucky because the meal didn't arrive until 19:50h. I had their house burger and the OH had fish & chips, both of which were decent and plentiful with unusual but very moreish, crispy chips. No space for dessert. Our breakfast tray was supplied but was lacklustre. I don't take milk and therefore don't eat cereal, which was lucky because there wasn't enough milk supplied for 2 portions and coffee/tea for two (there's a kettle and the usual instant supplies in the room). The croissants were plastic packed, sad specimens. There was a nod to healthy eating with the addition of an apple and an orange. Google maps and our satnav informed us that the Eurotunnel site was 20 - 25 minutes away, not the 10 minutes advertised on the pub Website, so we left just before 9 for our 10:20h crossing arriving at 09:25h. In summary; this is a decent place to stay if you want a hearty dinner at a reasonable price, followed by a good, comfy bed in a quiet location and you have no need to leave before about 10am. Maybe their proper breakfast is decent & hearty too but they are making crafty savings by not serving it at normal hospitality hours.