Travel Diary: Updown Farmhouse 🌻

A boutique luxury hotel housed in a cosy 17th century Kentish farmhouse

Oh, where do I begin with this special, special place. I was going to include this little trip in my weekly diary, but I could honestly wax lyrical about it for days on end, so you’re getting an entire post on it. We arrived home on Monday and I am still beaming about the 24 hours we spent at Updown 🌞

The back story

I have wanted to visit Updown for quite some time, ever since I saw Jules Von Hep post about it on Instagram a couple of years ago. The interiors alone were enough to prick my ears up, never mind the fact that the rooms are housed in a centuries-old farmhouse, surrounded by walled gardens, wrought iron gates and seven acres of lush, green land that instantly make you feel like you’re a member of the Bloomsbury Group at a country retreat for the weekend.

I had all but forgotten about my desperation to visit Updown until the morning of my 30th birthday, when James surprised me with a folded up booking confirmation for a one-night stay at the farmhouse, individually wrapped in its own little parcel. As you can imagine, I was completely thrilled.

Lunch among the flowers

Situated about ten minutes inland from Deal in Kent, Updown is about an hour and a half drive from our home in Tunbridge Wells. Arriving just in time for our lunch reservation in the conservatory restaurant, we opted to sit outside under the grape vines, looking out towards the farmhouse behind the green trees and plants keeping its facade hidden like a delicious secret.

From the moment we set foot on the grounds, the staff at Updown made us feel so welcome and looked after. A chorus of “happy birthday!” reverberated around the conservatory as we ordered our drinks: local lager for James, a Paloma cocktail (I am firmly in my tequila era) for me.

Freshly baked focaccia arrived with a flourish at our table, gleaming with olive oil, crunchy with salt and fresh rosemary and soft as a pillow; followed by the most gorgeous parma ham, tomatoes, basil and melon for our first course.

Next came our main courses: butterflied mackerel for me, cooking beautifully in the wood fired oven and served with peas, thinly sliced apple and fennel. The fish was so decadent and fresh at the same time, perfectly paired with the sharpness and acidity of the raw apple and fennel. James ordered sirloin of beef with roast potatoes, cheesy leeks, borlotti beans, tomatoes and horseradish - rich, buttery and utterly addictive.

Dessert was delightful, although James’ panna cotta wasn’t quite set (he still enjoyed dipping his biscuit in it though - not a euphemism). The lemon verbena flavour was sensational and the buttery shortbread biscuit complemented the sharper notes of the citrus perfectly.

Time for a nap…

After lunch, we dragged ourselves over to the outdoor sofas in front of the main house and took turns dozing off in the sun, people-watching and, in my case, marvelling about the fact that I was in this magical place with my favourite person in the whole world. I couldn’t stop smiling, partly because of the cocktail and glass of rosé wine I had at lunch (I’m 30 years old and no longer able to handle alcohol, OK?), but also because I was in total awe of my life in that moment.

Once our room was ready for us to move into for the night, we grabbed our bags from the car and went to explore the main house. The communal spaces were better than I could have ever imagined: the bold use of colour, the playfulness, the cosy soft furnishings and touches of luxury that piece it all together. When James and I finally buy a house, I will be visiting Updown again purely for interiors inspiration…and maybe another cocktail or two.

A room with a view

To avoid me quite literally keeling over with joy at the downstairs interiors, James shepherded me up the stairs to the place that we would be calling home for the evening. When I tell you I audibly gasped as he opened the door - my eye was immediately drawn to the bright green walls, the quirky prints hanging above the bed with its crisp white sheets and colourful velvet cushions, the pink(!) bathroom and spectacular views of the garden and conservatory.

It may not have been the biggest room in the house, but it was the only one with a walk-in shower and extra deep bathtub, housed in the most beautiful pale pink bathroom I have ever seen. I didn’t take any photos of it because frankly, I was far too excited, so here’s one from the Updown website.

Another drink? Oh, go on then…

After unpacking a few things and staring longingly at that bathroom for longer than was probably considered normal, we headed straight back outside into the sunshine - perfectly timed for an early evening cocktail, followed by a leisurely walk around the grounds and out on to the lane that runs past the farmhouse.

Golden hour

Hilariously, we encountered a very sweet little dog as we walked along the lane, who had escaped from his home - he seemed utterly unbothered and just wanted belly rubs, which I happily gave him while James called the number on his collar. Within seconds, his owner came barrelling down the lane to collect him.

Back from our eventful walk, we moved with the sun up on to the patio, via the honesty bar for some more drinks. The glassware alone was enough to make me swoon, never mind the huge velvet sofa groaning under the weight of about 5,000 cushions fluffed to perfection.

A note here to say that I would highly recommend bringing along a bottle of wine in your luggage if you stay at Updown - the honesty bar offers half bottles of wine but they are very spenny, and unless you want to be extremely dishonest at the honesty bar, they’re not really worth it imho.

A cosy country retreat

As the sun went down and the air cooled, we retreated into the house and finished our drinks in the living area, with music playing softly from the Sonos speaker. I’ve never visited a hotel where every tiny detail has been so meticulously and thoughtfully constructed - it really is a home away from home, peaceful and quiet with the odd peal of raucous laughter permeating the walls of the farmhouse as guests settled in for the evening.

Our day came to an end with plates of charcuterie, cheese, breadsticks and egg mayo sarnies from the room service menu, delivered to our door and eaten on the pristine white duvet (probably a mistake) while watching an episode of America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Perfection.

The morning after the night before…

I would love to say that we had a blissful night’s sleep, but the honest truth is that as lovely as the bedding was, it was very noisy - every time I rolled over, I felt like I was waking up the entire house. Does anyone else find that hotel bedding tends to make an absolute racket when you move?!

Slightly broken sleep aside, I was very happy to be waking up at Updown. A little bottle of fresh milk arrived outside our door just before 8am so we could make coffee to take back to bed, and then I quickly got dressed and sat in the sun reading while James showered.

A continental breakfast was included in the room rate, but this was no ordinary continental breakfast, lemme tell you. WOW. Homemade granola, thick creamy yoghurt, poached pears with cinnamon, fresh strawberries, raspberries and melon, sourdough bread, jams, butter and pastries the size of my head: I was in culinary heaven.

The whole place had such a lovely, calm atmosphere in the morning and I was honestly bereft at the thought of having to leave; which I guess is proof that I really loved it, as I am usually desperate to get back to my home comforts after a trip away.

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And that’s it, folks! That was our stay at the Updown Farmhouse, just outside of Deal, Kent. I won’t be forgetting it for a long, long time - mainly because I got to spend 24 hours of uninterrupted quality time with James, but also because the place itself, the staff and the food were all so spectacular.

Thank you so much for reading! xo