The Bull & Swan pub located in a listed building situated in the St. Martin’s area has been completely refurbished featuring seven highly individual bedrooms.
Well-known British interior designer Christine Boswell was commissioned to design the extensive refurbishment of the historic inn. Christine has converted the seven bedrooms, large restaurant and three bar spaces into quirky, individual rooms based on the gentleman’s drinking club called ‘The Honorable Order of Little Bedlam’, which supposedly frequented the original Bull and Swan in the 17th century. The gentleman’s club, which had a diverse bunch of 27 members, was based at Burghley House – one of the largest and grandest houses of the first Elizabethan Age.
Hillbrooke has christened the bedrooms after seven of these members: Ram, Greyhound, Lamb, Wild Horse, Badger, Stag and Lyon. The rooms are designed by deriving inspiration from their namesakes.
Christine’s design of each room represents their names. ‘Stag’ room features a Scottish ambience with tartan wallpaper and a resin stag’s head. ‘Lyon’ features a four-poster bed with a lion’s head carved on the bedhead offering a more colonial theme. The large restaurant showcases framed portraits of some of the drinking club members giving a hint of the historic origins of the hotel.
Most of the furniture used in the renovated inn was made in Rajasthan, India. Many pieces have been designed based on the references sourced at Burghley House. ‘Quirky’ touches can be observed throughout the rooms and are adorned in a restrained style with ticking curtains or blinds, muted colours, close fitted carpets and loose rugs. All rooms are equipped with ensuite bathrooms, and some of them have claw foot baths and separate showers.
The original medieval stone-built open hall house was once used as a travellers’ inn. The building is owned by the Burghley House Preservation Trust, and Hillbrooke Hotels has taken over the lease of the Bull and Swan.
