The main inspo for our family getaway to Deal in Kent, was seeing The Rose Hotel on Instagram. I just knew I had to stay there.
Believe it or not, this isn’t usual behaviour from me though. Most of my travels are driven by a desire to explore a destination and the choice of where to stay is totally a secondary factor. Usually based on price or walking distance to attractions. Very practical of me, I know. So it felt like a gratifying and self-indulgent decision to book The Rose, just because it looked luxurious!
And pal, it didn’t disappoint.
We booked into Room Four at The Rose for 2 nights in October and had a lovely time exploring the seaside town of Deal (check out my Deal travel guide over here). I chose Room Four because it was big enough to fit an extra kid’s bed in the room (they are very good on their website and tell you which rooms are kid-friendly or dog-friendly). But I was also adamant that I had to have a roll-top bath. And this bath was dreamy.
All of the rooms at The Rose are beautifully decorated with mid-century furniture and bold colours, but are all totally different. A detail that means that if you’re a repeat visitor, you could definitely have a different vibe, y’know? I absolutely loved waking up to this gorgeous decor. We could put a record on the in-room record player (although let’s face it, CBeebies was right in there after the first song) and help ourselves to coffee and biscuits from the stand in the hallway. It felt very welcoming and luxurious and we totally loved the room.
An element I loved were the Austin Austin products in the bathroom, which I became immediately obsessed with and have repeatedly browsed their website trying not to buy them (they’re spenny but so nice).
Our room came with breakfast at The Rose and you can choose whatever you want from the a la carte breakfast menu. We had delicious coffee every day, and they catered to my 3 year old. I had a full English breakfast one day and baked green gypsy eggs the next, and they were both outrageously good.
In fact, all of the food we had at The Rose was amazing.
We booked in to have dinner in the restaurant one night and it was really delicious. We had to go early to accommodate my daughter’s bedtime and it was already rammed, so it’s obviously a popular spot! I tried something I never normally would (because I didn’t recognise half the ingredients lol) – salt-baked celeriac, pickled and grilled wild mushrooms with coco beans and cavolo nero – and it was banging. It’s fancy food, but really tasty.
They did kids meals, and gave the kid some crayons, which is always a relief. But it was massive for a kids meal and was more like a slightly smaller portion of an adult meal. But she liked the chicken schnitzel so it’s a winner for me.
Location-wise, you can’t really ask for more. It’s a stones-throw from the beach and lots of lovely restaurants and bars. You can walk to Deal Castle too. And it’s fairly close to a car park (no on-site parking but it’s cheap to park anyhow).
And one more thing I loved – they do free coffee and cake in the afternoon for hotel guests! They don’t advertise it anywhere, but I thought it was a nice touch.
The Rose Hotel isn’t cheap – it’s a gorgeous boutique hotel with amazing food, so you know it was never going to be. But I think it’s worth the price – from £100 a night for smaller rooms. Ours was from £160 a night, and you have to pay a charge to add the kids bed. But like I said, we had a really nice few days and the hotel totally made it for us. I would one hundred percent recommend a stay!
Let me know if you end up visiting The Rose, and happy travels!
