In the know
- Our favourite rooms
- Simple, pared back, modern and comfortable, the Olde Bell’s Crawford-refurbished rooms retain the quintessentially English feel of the inn as a whole, with chunky farmhouse furniture, woven wool blankets, oak floorboards, and smart, natural tones. Thanks to the grassy scents of the hand-made rush matting, the rooms even smell rustic. Bathrooms are fitted with drench showers in the Inn Doubles and elegant claw-foot baths (as well as showers) in the Inn Suites. All the rooms have been recently (and lovingly) refurbished but ask for a room overlooking the wild-meadow garden.
- Packing tips
- Leave your library on the shelf – each of the Olde Bell’s rooms has a stash of Penguin Classics to thumb through.
Current offers
- Smith card offer
- A bottle of NV Ayala champagne
More photos
The Olde Bell Inn
Berkshire, United Kingdom[view map]
- Style
- Inn-keeping with tradition
- Setting
- Thames riverside village
With parts of it dating back to 1135, The Olde Bell Inn in Hurley has heritage creeping out of every inglenook. Ilse Crawford, however, has imbued the mediaeval hostelry with the same rustic elegance she brought to Babington House – without sacrificing the oak-beamed, traveller’s-rest cosiness that has characterised the Thameside inn for centuries.
Need to know
- Rooms
- 17 refurbished Inn Doubles, seven refurbished Inn Suites and more to come.
- Rates
- £150–£300, including breakfast and tax.
- Check-out
- 11am, but flexible, depending on availability. Check in, 2pm.
- Facilities
- Meadow garden, tennis court, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: flatscreen TV, Roberts radio, Aesop toiletries. DVD players on request.
- Also
- Small dogs are welcome, although the inn can’t offer food or bedding.
Food & drink
- Hotel restaurant
- The inn’s seasonally inspired, gastropubby menu has been created by Rosie Sykes (author of The Kitchen Revolution) and changes daily. All bread is baked fresh on site, and in summer, there’s an outdoor barbecue offering local meat and fish.
- Dress code
- Barbour and Burberry.
- Top table
- Have the Olde Bell prepare you a lunchtime picnic hamper (complete with blanket and bottle opener), and meander down to the riverbank.
- Last orders
- Lunch, 12.30pm–3pm; dinner, 6.30pm–9.45pm. There’s no dinner served on Sundays. The bar is open until 11pm for non-residents, but guests can enjoy its hospitality as long as they wish.
- Room service
- A full restaurant menu is available during kitchen opening hours, a snack selection at other times.
- Hotel bar
- Lined with photographs of the inn’s past, the black-beamed bar area is riddled with nooks, woven with crannies, and warmed by an open-fire.
Also worth knowing
- Children
- The inn’s meadow gardens are the perfect natural playground and the inn arranges children’s entertainment weekends every summer. There’s a weekend kids’ menu, and baby cots are free.
- Weddings
- This hotel is suitable for weddings. More…
Smith Members offer
A bottle of NV Ayala champagne
If you're a member of Mr & Mrs Smith, you can get special privileges at every Smith hotel you book through us. Just show your Smith card at check-in to claim the offer featured on every hotel page (like the one above).
Click here to become a Mr & Mrs Smith member
Smith travel team
If you'd prefer to talk to someone, or don't want to book online, call our travel team on 1 866 610 3867. We guarantee you’ll get the best available rates, and we don’t charge a booking fee.
The Olde Bell Inn
High Street
Hurley
SL6 5LX
