North Downs Inn accommodation, Kent Downs, England
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
The Bowl Inn is a 16th Century building, so we've worked hard with our architect and builder to ensure that our recent extension was designed in sympathy with the features of the original building, using local materials and the same traditional Kent Peg roof tiles in order to preserve its original look and feel.
We're scrupulous about maintainance, regularly painting the exterior and taking pride in keeping everything in good condition to reflect and enhance our beautiful surroundings.
Inside the pub we've preserved our wonderful inglenook which has an open log fire. It provides an important way to help keep ourselves and our customers warm when it gets cold in winter. It's an original feature of the building and our team put in a lot of hard work to keep it going during the winter months. We all benefit though, because the interior of our bar oozes cosiness, partially lit by the natural glow of the fire.
Meanwhile, our well insulated guest rooms allow lots of energy saving natural light to flood in during the day . Our guests also appreciate the opportunity to enjoy en suite shower facilities, something which enables us all to feel good by contributing to the conservation of more of our precious natural water resources.
In summer we enjoy planting up tubs and hanging baskets with an array of flowers and plants for our beer garden; and where possible these are watered with recycled water. In addition, in high summer, our trees cast natural shade where our customers and guests can quench their thirst with a cold drink and keep cool.
As we are situated in The Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty we take recycling very seriously, inviting all our guests to use bins provided as a matter of course; and avoid discarding any litter in our beautiful countryside.
We encourage our staff to recycle waste where possible; and work hard to reduce the amount we produce ourselves. We provide bins in which to discard organic waste, so that leftover vegetables, fruit , and tea bags etc are composted, something which contributes towards making our large beer garden into even prettier surroundings for our customers.
We use a specialist recycling company for our other waste, with bottles, tin, cooking oil and other products taken away weekly for disposal that keeps landfill to a minimum.
Community
Bursting with character and warmth, the Bowl Inn offers the perfect surroundings in which to relax and enjoy real ale in the Kentish Countryside.
The pub is at the centre of a close knit local community, so we know local businesses inside out. We provide an information pack for our guests which recommends local restaurants and sights, as well as the local taxi firm, to help make your stay as enjoyable as possible; but if you need more information please ask. Our team are happy to provide visiting guests who are unfamiliar with the area with personal recommendations and ideas, and encourage everyone to explore off the beaten track. Our staff are friendly and appproachable and even local customers are always on hand to provide insider knowledge about places where you can experience real Kentish life.
We encourage local event organisers to put up posters or leave us with flyers that we make available at the bar, so our guests find that there's nearly always something interesting to attend or look out for, including organised walks, live music or fundraising events.
The simple dishes we serve at the inn are cooked to order and use local produce where possible, which is of a very high standard. We always buy from local suppliers to make sure that even the most basic foods such as bread is sourced locally and of the best quality.
We also stock some drinks that are locally made, such as our apple juice , which is particularly popular; and serve local beers from the Whitstable and Gadds brewery.
At our annual beer festival we feature stalls promoting local produce such as a goats cheese stall, to give people a real flavour of the Kent Downs.
We want all our guests to enjoy a fantastic experience in the garden of England and strive to encourage everyone to explore the local area, and perhaps take something tangible or consumable that was produced locally back home to share with their friends.
Landscape
Having lived in the area for nearly 20 years we've experienced some of the best walks around with plenty still left (even for us) to explore. All ages and abilities can enjoy the surrounding countryside of the Kent Downs or even just the peaceful views.
It's a fantastic place to visit if you have a dog (bearing in mind the times of year when there are animals in the fields). Many people choose to stay with us because they are keen walkers and love to experience the Kent countryside at every stage of the year, be it in summer when the famers are harvesting through to winter when the landscape is iced with frost.
We do ask that everyone respect the needs to avoid routes and other special places we usually recommend, in certain seasons when it is not appropriate to allow dogs, and when local wildlife and farms must not be disturbed.
We like to organise group walks a few times throughout the year and encourage people to return to the pub for breakfast afterwards, where they can talk about different routes they have taken and recommend other areas to visit.
These events are extremely popular with local people and it gives everyone the opportunity to find out about different places to explore and visit.
We can advise on lots of different areas to walk to , as well as great places to stop off along the way. We offer a relaxing setting when you return, with simple food, good beer and great company.
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