The Wife of Bath Hotel

Kent

One of the UK’s best northern Spanish restaurants isn’t what you expect to find at a six-bedroom B&B in a sleepy Kent village. Unless you knew it were there, you’d never find it. Home to a couple of quaint riverside pubs, a haberdasher and two small restaurants, Wye hasn’t (yet) succumbed to the DFL brigade. Some 20km from the coast, it’s an ideal base from which to explore Kentish seaside towns, with ample parking and easy access to the M20. The refurbishment was completed in 2016 by Michelin-acclaimed chef and restaurateur Mark Sargeant, who owns Rocksalt restaurant in Folkestone and The Duke William Ickham in Canterbury. This project is a labour of love. Designed entirely by Sargeant and his wife, it’s a light and airy space where the bedrooms host high ceilings, wrought-iron beds and excellent design touches, but the restaurant is worth the visit alone. Sundays see a Spanish take on a traditional lunch (book a seat on the terrace), with superb tapas and a subtly spiced pork belly from local pigs that had us reconsidering our own approach to roasting. Spanish breakfast is equally superb. Tortilla with crispy jamón Ibérico beats bacon and eggs hands down in this weather, while Manchego and chorizo scones had us begging for the recipe. Doubles from £85.