The approach through sprawling Littlestone is unpromising, particularly in the dark when you don’t know where you’re heading. But this dignified 1920s house, built by Clough Williams Ellis for American columnist Hedda Hopper, has a superb position between the sea and Romney Marsh. Clinton and Lisa Lovell took over Romney Bay House in 2003, and have kept the style of the interior much the same, while upgrading the bathrooms. The interiors are reminiscent of a small hotel in Provence, with plenty of French furniture and fabrics. This is a thoroughly relaxed place: the cosy bar; the warm, firelit sitting room packed with groups of comfortable, inviting chairs; breakfasts in the pretty conservatory; drinks or cream teas on the terrace in fine weather. 

Dinner is a non-choice four course menu, planned around the diners each evening and made with local produce.

An upstairs ‘look-out’ room has the feel of a beach house, with piles of towels for swimming, wicker chairs and sea shells. Bedrooms have creamy cottons, fresh white bedlinen, bright checks, and antiques; those on the first floor have full length windows, allowing uninterrupted views out to sea.