Gardeners Rest Luxury Bed and Breakfast

  Queensdown Road Kingsdown,
 Nr Deal, Kent. CT14 8EF

Telephone: 01304 371449

Luxury 5 Star, Gold Award Bed & Breakfast on the Kent Coast between Dover and Sandwich offers the highest standards in accommodation and meals for the duration of your stay. Ideal for a weekend break, or longer getaway.

Gardeners Rest has been featured in The Guardian Bed & Breakfast directory 2008 and in 2007 we were featured by the "Independent" as 1 of the 50 best B&Bs in Britain. We have been awarded "Highly Commended" in the Tourism Excellence Awards for the Best B&B in the South East. Our garden has also been accepted by the NGS as worthy of opening to the public.

The house was individually designed and built to a high specification by the owners, Sandra and Ken Upton.

Each bedroom has its own balcony enjoying spectacular views of the one acre plantsmans' garden, English Channel, Walmer and Kingsdown Golf Course and open countryside.

The house and garden is set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

A superlative standard of comfort is achieved in each bedroom with floor to ceiling windows to the private balconies. Good quality spacious beds with feather mattress toppers, all seasons duvets and luxury bed linen. Free to view TV, CD, DVD, hot drinks facilities, Pedestal Fan, fridge and complementary still & sparkling water, fresh flowers and comfortable seating.

We are a non smoking establishment.

The East Bedroom

The East bedroom offers a super king sized bed with his and hers mattresses, divisible into twin beds, en suite facilities including bath and separate power shower.

The West Bedroom

The West bedroom contains one king sized bed, en suite facilities with walk in power shower. The bathrooms are purpose built and finished with Italian tiles. A basket of toiletries together with soft white bath robes and bath sheets provide the finishing touch. The emphasis is on comfort and quality.

 

The cordless kettle and hot drinks tray is set on (a low table). top of the fridge well out of the way.

Central heating radiators in the bedrooms and towel rails in the bathrooms are individually controlled by thermostatic valves. Each bathroom has an extractor fan and easily opened velux roof light.

Each bedroom has 2 outward opening windows and a pair of French doors on to the balcony.

An English menu in Braille is available on request.

Fruit Juice is served in coloured glasses without stems for everyone.

Breakfast served in the bedroom is available on request.

Our bacon and sausages are made by the local butchers from meat bred on local farms. Our eggs are free range from a local farm. In season the tomatoes are organic and home grown. We make our own bread, hash browns and some fruit compotes. The orange juice is freshly squeezed . We also offer Cranberry Juice.

We offer at least 4 different teas and 3 coffees. We do our best to cater for reasonable special dietary needs including vegetarians where animal fat is not used for cooking. The jam is home made but not by us. Our fruit compotes are cooked with honey not sugar.

A library:-  of topical or local interest books and classic DVDs and games completes the items on offer for your enjoyment.

Book both rooms for a truly exceptional break with friends or family.

Parking

Off street parking for cars or motorcycles and secure parking for cycles is available. The car park is well lit with 4 sensor lights.

Information

Private balcony affords spectacular views of the English Channel, Cliff top Golf Course and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Extensive Breakfast Menu of local and home grown produce.

His & Hers mountain bikes for use by guests free of charge.

Environmentally Friendly. We re-use, reduce and re-cycle.

Ideal for walkers and cyclists - Saxon Shoreway and National Cycle Network Route 1 & 2.

Day Membership of Local Balance Spa and Hydrotherm Treatments (in your room) available.

Telephone/Internet Accessibility:- We do not have a public telephone but a cordless BT telephone receiver is available for guests to receive calls. A good signal for most mobile phone networks is received from each balcony. We (do not offer internet access but) have a lap top computer with wireless internet access available for guests on request and are happy to make internet bookings or (send/receive e-mails) print downloaded information for guests.

Dogs:- Companion dogs, with their own bedding are welcome. The dogs must be fed on the balcony. We do not have any grass within the garden. Beyond the back gate is a good walking area for companion dogs.

Wedding Guests:-  We offer transport to the local wedding ceremony free of charge.)             View from the East Bedroom

The Garden is our Nemesis.

In 1998 when we purchased the 1 acre of land, it was covered in scrub, bushes & grass native to chalkland. Totally unprotected from the vicious west wind. We first cleared the site and planted a wind break along the West boundary of Leylandi trees, native saplings & Gorse seedlings.

In March 2000 the footprint for the house was cleared of topsoil which was heaped and the construction, to our design, of the house commenced.

February 2002 we moved into the house, hard landscaping to the garden commenced and continued over the next 2.5 years. Rain water is harvested into a 5000 gallon tank constructed beneath one of the flower beds. This is used to water the garden plants.

Ken and Sandra sieved the heaps of top soil and barrowed it on to terraces and raised flower beds. The stones & flints were used as foundation for paths surfaced in Westmoreland Slate, recycled from the roof of the self catering apartment in Walmer. The soil is supplemented with well rotted horse manure and our own compost. Wood chippings from a local tree surgeon serve as mulch.
6 years later the garden is a blaze of flowering plants and shrubs, gathered from around the world. The Pergola is covered with Roses, Clematis, Honeysuckle, Solanum, Jasmine, Grapevine, & Passionflower. It contains several birds nests.

August 18th 2008. In July & August the garden has suffered strong westerly winds, which has dried out & snapped off plants and generally reduced the temperature, despite the sunshine. The Kingsdown Village show took place yesterday and the garden produced exhibits winning 9 First Prize Trophies, including Specimen Rose, 3 Dahlias, 9 Gooseberries, Best Use of Greenhouse and Best Terraced Area. The Kingsdown area enjoys its own micro-climate & we have suffered few heavy rain storms, mostly early morning with sun for the rest of the day.
 

At last we are serving home grown Tomatoes for breakfast. The Onions are drying & we are overflowing with Courgettes. The Dahlias have enjoyed the unusual rainfall and cooler temperatures and are magnificent. The Tree ferns & Banana plants (1 grown from seed) are in full leaf and even the Bougainvilleas are flowering outside. The Lillies, Agapanthus & Begonias have bloomed non stop for over 2 months & made a brilliant display in the courtyard. The constant dead heading of the Roses has given a second flowering, which should continue well into September. The Japanese Anemones, Phlox & Crinum vie with the colourful 6ft tall Cannas for your attention. The late flowering Clematis, Jasmin & Passionflower replace the now pruned Lavender to perfume the air around the Pergola. 

In 2008 the Bird of Paradise flowered for the first time and the Ginger Lillies have flower heads, another first. The Abutilons & Agnistus look better every year. The fruit of the Kangaroo Apple is showing red and the Kangaroo Paw is in flower. To be continued:-

The garden at Gardeners Rest has been accepted by the National Gardens Scheme and will be opened to the public from September 2009

Around the area

The house is on the edge of the village and on a private road away from the main thoroughfare. We are not close to a school or public park. There is no public bus stop this side of the village and the nearest train station is Walmer which is 2.5 miles away. There is a Taxi office within Walmer station. The nearest shop or Pub serving food is ½ a mile away. The Saxon Shore Way and National Cycle Network runs past the bottom of Queensdown road. There are often more horses than cars passing by.

Birdsong or the call of foxes or the sound of the sea is frequently the loudest discernable noise.

Places to visit

Howletts and Port Lympne Animal Parks, Kent Wildlife Trust, The Rare Breeds Centre, Wildwood, De Bradelei Wharf Shopping Centre, The McArthur Glen Outlet, Ashford, Chatham Dockside Outlet, The Hop Farm Country Park, Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Steam Railway, Dover Museum, Canterbury Cathedral, The Best of Deal and Sandwich,White Cliffs Countryside Project, City Europe in Calais. There are also many castles to visit around the area.

Activities

Golf:-    Royal St. George's, Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club, Prince's Golf Club,Walmer And Kingsdown Golf Club.

Walking and cycling:- Saxon Shore Way, Walmer Castle and Gardens, Goodnestone Park Gardens, ,The Pines Garden, Kearsney Abbey Gardens, Sandwich Bay, The North Downs Way, The Miners Way, The Skylark Trail, National Cycle Network Routes 1 and 2.

Tariff's

Notes: Price per room based on 2 person occupancy minimum 2 consecutive nights booked including cooked breakfast. A Childs bed available at £30 per child per night occupied

East Bedroom

Notes: Price per room based on 2 person occupancy minimum 2 consecutive nights booked including cooked breakfast. A Childs bed available at £30 per child per night occupied

West Bedroom

Notes: Prices quoted per room based upon 2 person occupancy min 2 consecutive nights booked, including cooked breakfast. A discount of £5 per room per night is offered for bookings of 7 nights or more. A 3rd bed available charged at £30 extra per person per night occupied

For further information please visit our website:-    www.gardenersrest.me.uk  

Email: Sandra@holidaysdeal.co.uk

Or write to us at:-
Sandra and Ken Upton
Gardeners Rest  Nemesis  Queensdown Road
Kingsdown  Nr Deal  Kent.  CT14 8EF
Telephone: 01304 371449