Kent, United Kingdom

The Blue Pigeons

The Blue Pigeons Photos

Style

Refined country roost

Setting

Worth a Deal detour

Explore

More hotels in Kent More hotels in United Kingdom

Tucked into the village of Worth in East Kent, The Blue Pigeons is a pub with rooms that has our hearts aflutter. Its quaint locale was once defined by illicit traders, but these days its slow pace and centuries-old streets showcase a quieter life by the coast. Interiors have us cooing just the same, with farmhouse features, Farrow & Ball paint licks and wonderfully offbeat upholstery. Add in a revered restaurant and herb-scented garden with a seasonal cocktail truck, and you’ve got yourself a well-feathered stay. 

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

A bottle of sparkling wine on arrival

Facilities

Photos The Blue Pigeons facilities

Need to know

Rooms

Eight, including three suites.

Check–Out

11am, and check-in is at 3pm. Both are flexible, on request and subject to availability.

Also

There’s ramped access across the ground floor of The Blue Pigeons, as well as an adapted bathroom and reserved parking spots for Blue Badge holders. However, none of the rooms or cabins has been especially designed to accommodate guests with limited mobility, vision or hearing.

At the hotel

Flower and herb gardens, seasonal drinks truck, golf course nearby, charged laundry service and free WiFi throughout.

Our favourite rooms

Tom’s and Jack's cabins are sought-after for their particularly scenic setting alongside the gardens. Though we love their stumbling proximity to the seasonal drinks truck come summer, it’s Daisy that really has us smitten. Watching over Worth’s 12th-century church, don’t be surprised if you see horse-drawn carriages trotting past her grand Georgian windows and light-bathed living area.

Packing tips

Anything Jane Austen, preferably to be read out in the hotel’s quaint English gardens.

Pet‐friendly

Dogs are welcome in Tom’s and Jack’s cabins for a one-off cleaning fee of £50, as well as in the Piano Bar and around the gardens. The only area in which they aren’t allowed is the restaurant. See more pet-friendly hotels in Kent.

Children

Children of all ages are welcome, though not especially catered to, as no extra beds or cots can be added to the hotel’s made-for-two rooms.

Food and Drink

Photos The Blue Pigeons food and drink

Top Table

In a velvet-lined banquette against exposed brick walls and under vaulted ceilings in the restaurant; and as close to the keys as possible in the Piano Bar.

Dress Code

Keep it casual during the day but bring out your finer feathers come evening.

Hotel restaurant

Once a pub, The Blue Pigeons’ restaurant sticks close to home — both for ingredients and culinary inspiration. Head chef Henry Kenny spins seasonal produce into refined British plates, including a revered ribeye with your choice of saucy side (we’d suggest the creamy mash) and slow-cooked puff-pastry pies. Sundays bring hearty roast dinners, and for breakfasts, it’s pancakes, poached eggs, avocado toast and, of course, the full English. 

Hotel bar

Adorned with bluebells and anchored by a grand set of ivories, The Piano Bar’s name tells all. A couple of cocktails or glasses of locally produced pinot may have you tempted to tinker at your childhood-rendition of Für Elise, but allow the aficionados to do their thing with live sets every Saturday evening and all-day Sunday. Between May and September, the seasonal Garden Bar lifts the curtain on its drinks truck for coffees, herbal cocktails and sharing plates alfresco. We’ve also heard word that there’s a pizza oven and barbecue in the works... 

Last orders

Breakfast is 8am–10am; lunch is noon–3pm (4pm on Saturdays and 6pm on Sundays), and dinner is from 6pm–9pm, Monday to Saturday. The Piano Bar is open daily between 8am–11pm. The Garden Bar opens noon–9pm, Thursday to Sunday between May and September.

Room service

Available from an in-room menu between 8am and 10pm.

Location

Photos The Blue Pigeons location
Address
The Blue Pigeons
The Street Worth
Deal
CT14 0DE
United Kingdom

Just outside Deal in the small village of Worth, The Blue Pigeons sits surrounded by East Kent’s close-to-the-coast countryside in southeast England.

Planes

London City Airport is your nearest (a 90-minute drive), but also the smallest. International flights are more likely to land into London’s Gatwick or Heathrow, which are both around two hours’ away by car, depending on traffic. The hotel can't pre-arrange transfers, but all three airports have a host of taxi ranks and car collection points.

Trains

Both Sandwich and Deal train stations are within a 10-minute drive of the hotel and have direct high-speed routes that’ll get you to London St Pancras in an hour and a half. They also have coastal connections to Ramsgate and Margate.

Automobiles

A car isn’t strictly essential but highly recommended if you’re planning on exploring beyond Worth’s small domain. There’s a private carpark on-site with an allotted space per room, as well as two electric-vehicle charging spots.

Worth getting out of bed for

The village of Worth may be small, but it’s certainly sweet. St Peter & St Paul’s Church sits across the road from The Blue Pigeons and makes for a strong starting point, with its impressive stained-glass windows and 800-year-old history. The Old Harbour Warehouse has been transformed into an intimate maritime museum, and there are guided tours around the village’s centuries-old lighthouse every Saturday during the summer. Continue your coastal crash course with a visit to one of Kent's many sandy spots: Sandwich and Pegwell Bay is a 615-hectare nature reserve, Deal Beach is an idyllic summer spot, and St Margaret’s Beach sits surrounded by the chronicled White Cliffs. 

Hiking trails aren’t hard to come by, either, with loops from Worth and Deal to Sandwich, and around Goodnestone Park. If your idea of self-care features a few more clinks, Kent’s chalk-infused terrain lends itself to award-winning wine production, so you’ll have your pick of tasting spots — Simpson’s Wine Estate and Heppington Vineyard are particularly worthy of a toast. 

Local restaurants

If it's a quaint English pub you’re after, wander a couple of doors down and you’ll find St Crispin Inn more than delivers. Its 15th-century walls are warmed with modern touches and cheek-rosing fireplaces, with traditional home-cooked meals (mash-paired pie of the day, seared steaks, burgers) as its comforting closer. Keep the classics coming and stop by Papa's The Deep Blue Fish and Chips in neighbouring Sandwich — this hole-in-the-wall spot serves the beer-battered British staple in its purest form (freshly fried and in a flip-up takeaway box). 

Reviews

Photos The Blue Pigeons reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this humble hotel in Kent and brushed the salt air from their hair, a full account of their quaint break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside The Blue Pigeons near Deal… 

Worth isn’t the most obvious draw to East Kent’s scenic coastline — but allow us a moment, for The Blue Pigeons has flown in to up its appeal. Set slightly inland, this small village — along with its better-known neighbours, Sandwich and Deal — has all the trappings for trad British wanderings: 12th-century churches, quintessential tearooms and plenty of places to find a pint. 

But this pub with rooms ensures you needn’t fly far from the nest, with enough frills to keep even the most sybaritic of souls content. Grand Georgian windows, tactile textiles and farmhouse features define six intimate rooms in the main house, and beyond you’ll find two standalone cabins, thoughtfully crafted to reference the coast in their calming blue colour schemes. There’s a manicured garden that comes alive during the summer courtesy of its seasonal cocktail truck; and during those infamous English winters, a well-loved restaurant, dishing farm-fresh fare and local brews, is set to warm you from within.

Book now

Hotels nearby

Villas nearby