Kings Arms Hotel A Dorset And Hardy Favorite
The Kings Arms Hotel in Dorchester has just undergone a £5M makeover.
The Hardy Window…Kings Arms Hotel in Dorchester.
A 300year old hotel that has hosted the likes of Thomas Hardy, Admiral Nelson and even the Rolling Stones and Beatles!
Statue of Dorset author Thomas Hardy in Dorchester.
Hardy a resident of the town and author even included a reference to the hotel in one of his most famous books.
“A ‘spacious bow window projected into the street over the main portica’, Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge.
Today the hotel has been brought bang up to date with the investment from the Stay Original Company.
They stepped in and bought the building from the receiver in 2015.
Further refurbishment of this very special historic building is continuing.
Breathing Life Back Into The Kings Arms Hotel
With the forward thinking company breathing life again into an iconic property situated on Dorchester’s main street.
The hotel is now home to a spacious ground floor bar, reception, and restaurant.
On its upper floors there is space for 34 bedrooms. Currently 20 are open with a further 14 to be completed in early 2021.
Would this suit Thomas Hardy? One of the refurbished rooms at the Kings Arms Hotel in Dorchester.
Some styling within the property Thomas Hardy would probably approve of being an architect.
However, some of the mid-century designed rooms may not have been his choice but certainly mine.
Mid-Century styling in this room at the Kings Arms.
The darker and floral styled rooms would have been a hit I am sure.
Whether he would enjoy the roomy tiled shower rooms rather than a bath which he was more used to? But surely, he would certainly approve of the constant hot water to bathe with in the rooms.
Another more contemporary room at the Kings Arms.
Double glazing and air conditioning would be new to him but guests having the street facing rooms have the benefit of those facilities making all rooms cosy and quiet.
Along with the sumptuous bedrooms the rest of the hotel is awash colour too.
Floral and bright cushions bring lots of colour.
The front lounge and separate lounge bar have colour and various patterned soft furnishings to sink into.
Views That Thomas Hardy Wrote About
Having that large bay window which was not only used by Hardy who enjoyed its vistas and at times wrote there. He often dined there and some key action scenes in the Mayor of Casterbridge used the Kings Arms.
In Far from the Madding Crowd it was to the Kings Arms that Bathsheba was carried after she fainted at the local market.
Stone me…The bow window at the front of the Kings Arms.
Even the Rolling Stones made good use of the bay window too. When they stayed before a concert in nearby Weymouth. Fans chanted for them to come out and wave to them which they duly did in 1964.
The hotel has accommodated royalty, artists, actors and even a world-famous ballet dancer.
Queen Victoria stayed in 1853. Edward VII stayed in 1856 on a private visit. Admiral Nelson and Lady Hamilton on route to meet Captain Thomas Masterman Hardy who lived nearby.
No Swans On The Menu
Another warrior T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) stayed. Artist Augustus John, Hollywood film icon Audrey Hepburn. Anna Pavlova also stayed whilst researching swans at nearby Abbottsbury Swannery. This was for her role in Swan Lake that won her world recognition.
There are no swans on the menu! However, Head Chef Steve Yates will keep you feed and watered with his efficient team in the kitchen and the helpful front of house crew.
How about the pork option?
His free-range rotisserie chicken dish with lemon and paprika and romesco sauce looked gorgeous and was of a generous proportion. I didn’t know if I should the eat it or climb it?
Generous chicken dish at the Kings Arms Hotel in Dorchester.
In the past and even more recently the hotel has been very much at the heart of the action within the town.
And I have to say the team at the Stay Original Company have certainly operated well on this patient.
Dine in the new style at Kings Arms.
Breathing life back into a building and putting the heart back into the local community.
By providing both employment and a first class boutique style hotel to draw in visitors to South Dorset and its attractive rural and coastal areas.
