Checking into Crafted at Powdermills, an oasis that's filled with things to do and great food in East Sussex

The front of Crafted at Powdermills. Note that the green area at the front has been planted with wildflowers, fitting in with the nature-led approach of the hotel. 

What exactly is Crafted at Powdermills?

Crafted comes from Chris King, one of the founders of the rather fab (and much-missed) Birch hotel in North London. With Crafted, he's taken the ideas behind Birch and started applying them to a new series of hotels, starting with Powdermills.

If you liked what he did with Birch, then you'll definitely like what he's created with Crafted, which feels like it's taken the best bits from that previous hotel and created something pretty special. Here, you'll find a restaurant, a pub, an outdoor pool, two Padel courts, private rooms, workspaces, a lake for wild swimming, and more besides. If you're looking for a getaway from London with lots to do when you get here, this is pretty much ideal. 

How do we get there?

You'll find Crafted just outside Battle, barely five minutes' drive from the station which is just over an hour from London on the train. If you're coming down on the train, the hotel has its own (electric) car which will pick you up from the station. So if you don't drive, this is a very, very easy place to get to (although there's a lot to see in the surrounding area if you do drive down). 

You can arrange to get picked up by the hotel from Battle Station. You'll definitely know which car to take.

As for the place itself, Powdermills was previously a hotel in Battle, with most of it set within a Georgian Grade II-listed house, but one that was becoming clearly in need of a bit of love. Now taken over by Crafted, it's gone through a major overhaul with a complete redesign throughout the whole property. So if you've ever been to Powdermills before, it's now a completely different affair. 

Where can we stay when we get there?

There are a lot of options here. There are 51 rooms and suites throughout the property, some in the main house, some in a renovated barn (where you'll also find their huge fitness centre). One of the things we noted about Birch was that there was a certain shabby chic to the rooms, and mileage can vary with that approach. However, here things are different. All the rooms have been beautifully designed, but also really feel fully modernised where it's needed (like the bathrooms, for one). 

Also, if you're visiting with a group, there are three cottages on the property that you can book (with three to five rooms each). 

One of the suites at Powdermills, this one overlooking the pool.

And there's a big connection to nature here too?

When visiting, it quickly became clear to us just how much emphasis is being placed on the hotel's connection to its surrounding area. The property is spread across 78 acres, and lots of work is going on outside the hotel itself. Their gardener Lucy has been busy developing their kitchen garden across a large area beside the hotel, and you'll already find lots of produce from there making its way onto the menus, with more to come. 

But it's not just the kitchen garden where the impressive work is being done. There's a lot happening in the ancient woods around the property where they're working hard to bring the space back to its very best and we'd strongly recommend going on one of the tours to get a real feel for the area and find out what they're doing. There are lots of walks that you can go on by yourselves too, including a short 30-minute one that will take you into Battle. 

The site's gardener, Lucy, showing us around part of the crops they're growing (with many more kitchen garden spaces outside).

What about the food?

There are two key spaces for food and drink at Powdermills: the restaurant and the pub. So even if you're primarily staying in and around the hotel, there are two completely different places to choose from. In addition to that, there are a few areas for private dining, both in the main restaurant and also in the membership area of the hotel. 

The main restaurant, the pub and one of the private dining spaces at Powdermills. 

In charge of the food here is Executive Chef Neil Armstrong, who comes to Crafted after working with Edwardian Hotels in London. He's created menus that feature lots of produce from the gardens, including chard, radishes, squash and more on our visit. 

As for what you'll find on those menus, starting with the pub, you'll find lots of snacks to choose from, like courgette fries, scotch eggs, sausage rolls, smoked beetroot hummus and an excellent snack of smoked mussels on toast. As for bigger plates, there's a burger (with garden pickles), shepherd's pie and lots of vegetarian fare too. 

Here's a taste of what you'll find at the pub:

From the pub (eating on the terrace by the pool). Clockwise from top left there's roast cod with shellfish chowder, aubergine and Ashmore croquettes, a fantastic lion's mane schnitzel and smoked mussels on toast.  

At the main restaurant, you'll find a completely different menu, one which still uses a lot of local produce and elements from the garden, but also adds some larger sharing dishes. Here's a taste of that:

In the restaurant, clockwise from top left, there's raw beef tartare with wild garlic, cote de boeuf with café de Paris butter, a burnt honey tart and one of the best dishes we had, the whole sea bass in a deeply smoky butter sauce. 

And when it comes to breakfast, that's held in the main restaurant where you'll find a pretty extensive buffet and a very, very good Full English:

A proper full English breakfast. 

Anything else to highlight?

SO much more. The previously mentioned fitness centre really is massive, so it's well worth checking that out, but there are also quite a few running routes around the hotel. The hotel's rewilding expert Sebastian Cox even hosts an occasional guided run around the property himself, with stops to showcase how they're managing the environment. There's a tennis court and even two Padel courts.

Then, above the back of the hotel, you'll find a large lake, which is primarily used for swimming and kayaking. We took part in a hot and cold contrast therapy which involved sessions in the lakeside sauna, followed by a choice of either a plunge in the ice tub or jumping into the equally cold lake. The good news is that there's also a wood-fired hot tub to warm up in afterwards. 

The view from the hot tub, looking into the lake. 

But, of course, if you just want to relax, then we can also very strongly recommend drinks by the pool.

If the weather is good, by the pool is where you'll want to be. 

And what should I see in the surrounding area?

It's about a 20-minute drive or a 40-minute train journey into Hastings and St Leonards. So if you haven't been down there, where you'll find a great and growing food and drink scene, it's well worth the trip. It's also about a 30-minute drive to Eastbourne from the hotel and the museum at Bexhill is definitely worth checking out. 

And, of course, you are very much in English Wine country here, and one of the best vineyards is only a 30-minute drive from the hotel, Oxney Organic. We'd strongly recommend a visit and tasting at this vineyard if you have time, as we found its owner, Kristin Syltevik, to be one of the very best vineyard guides we've ever had, with a refreshingly down-to-earth approach.  

The great Kristin Syltevik beside the (early in the season) vines at Oxney

Overall thoughts

We absolutely loved Crafted at Powdermills. As we said at the beginning, having previously visited Birch, it feels like they took the best bits of that and then improved them further at Powdermills. The rooms are well decked out and incredibly comfortable, the food is fantastic, and we really appreciated how much they're doing to make the most of the beautiful setting it's in. There's also just so much that you can do without even leaving the hotel, where you want to be as active as possible or if you're just looking for relaxation. All that and it's incredibly simple to get to from London, making this an easy recommendation from us.