Thursday, June 18, 2015

St. Leonards on Sea, Hastings


Back in April Rowan and I fancied a trip to the seaside. We originally wanted to visit Westcliff on Sea, Kent, as my Grandma went there on holidays as a child, as the photo shows below. That is my Grandma back in 1925-26. She's so cute!


However, after much deliberation about gawdy bed and breakfasts, which Westcliff is lacking in. We found this incredible location: St Benedict Bed and Breakfast, in St Leonard's on Sea.
I had heard many things about Hastings, most of them were negative, but Rowan and I fell in love with St Benedicts, so thought it was worth a visit.

Hastings is bloody beautiful! It's Victoriana, misty and mysterious, we came through a large mist cloud that circled the cliff tops, you couldn't see the castle ruins from the beach. There were the usual arcades and sea side shops but also beautiful random architecture like this.


A church, right in the middle of some beautiful Georgian homes, how random and quaint! PS It looks like this still even now. Further down the promenade you have buildings like this. It sticks out like a sore thumb as it's so tall compared to the rest of the street, we couldn't help but photograph it.

courtesy of instagram.com/rowanfoto

Additionally, Hastings is filled with the usual shops you find in a town, as well as lots of craft start ups, vintage and bric-a-brac stores and reclaim yards. We LOVED it! It ended up buying a coffee table, which I have my feet on now, and a butter dish. We also saw 1001 things we wanted to buy but restrained from doing so, it was so so hard!!!

St Benedict Bed and Breakfast is A-mazing! The couple who own it are warm and friendly. They purchased the building back when it had been broken up into flats and set about restoring it to the original form. It has been hard work but they've done an incredible job. 

Each bedroom is different, we opted for Mr Parry's room, which is a bedroom, dressing room and en-suite, with views of the garden and a four poster bed. I had to hop on to it, as I'm a short arse, it was incredibly comfy.


The rest of the building was just as elaborate and incredibly decorated, there were points of interest at every corner. Upon arrival, we were checked in and then offer tea in the lounge with yummy cake!

courtesy of instagram.com/rowanfoto

Additionally to bed and breakfast, you can have the option of a Victorian dinner being cooked for you, we didn't opt for this but highly regretted not doing so shortly after arriving. I also regretted not packing a large hopped skirt and corset.

As I'm nosy, I had a potter around the house and came across the below decoration inspiration...


The entire place is remarkable, definitely worth a visit. Full of Christian paraphernalia and quirky talking points. Apparently the owners have been known to host wakes, wouldn't that be incredible: a traditional Victorian wake in a Victorian house, OMG!

Rowan and I enjoyed our time there that we are tempted to move to St Leonards on Sea, it is so beautiful, full of gorgeous Victorian houses and Georgian builds. It is definitely in our list of Top 5 places to move to.

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