Can't recommend anyplace w/o knowing your budget . . .

The Mermaid Inn is atmospheric and on the loveliest street.

Another for the atmospheric Mermaid - stayed there in the mid 80s - its charming dining room with open fire, and the wonky stairs and uneven walls and floors quite a contrast to the 747 I would be taking back to the New World the next night.

never stayed at the Mermaid, but it's a lovely place for a drink or a meal.

I've no reason to suppose that it isn't lovely to stay at too.

I would check out the reviews on booking.com and TA before i booked. I'm sure that there are other lovely places to stay in Rye as well.

you might like to read the Mapp and Lucia books by E F Benson before you go.

I was going to mention Mapp & Lucia, too. I've "walked" past Benson's/Henry James' house, aka Mallards, on google, just up from the Mermaid. Apparently the Garden Room is no longer there.

Shame about the Garden Room, Stoke. Rye was just about doable from our house in Kent as a day trip and we used to go there sometimes with our kids after a trip to the beach at Camber.

we also liked Winchelsea as it was less crowded than Rye, which was full of people walking into each other as they were trying to read about Mapp and Lucia.

I have stayed at the Mermaid. The staff working in the restaurant were rude and arrogant. Our room was noisy and no one seemed to care about even trying to make amends or apologies. The place is lovely, a jewel, but I would never put up with the attitude I encountered there. This was several years ago, so it's possible things have changed. Or not.

Have a look at Jeake's House just down the street.

Funny about the reading and bumping. Apparently the Garden Room was destroyed during WWII. It was handsome.

http://www.oocities.org/gardenroom1940/benson.html

I've stayed at the George in Rye (http://www.thegeorgeinrye.com/) and can recommend it, but only if you can get one of the cheaper rooms.

Friends of ours got married there and as we uhmmed and ahed about staying the night, all the cheaper rooms got booked and we ended up staying in one of the 'luxury' rooms at nigh-on £200 for the night.

The room was nicely done (aiming for the 'boutique' combination of olde worlde and modern) and the staff were fine, we just didn't feel like it was worth the price. The cheaper rooms had the same amenities, but were naturally smaller, with smaller bathrooms, but I think much better value than the luxury room.

The George also has two 'restaurants', one serving gastro-pub type stuff and the other more fine-dining. Having eaten at both, they're both definitely worth a stop, with the pub side of things my preferred choice as (I think) it has a better atmosphere and there's nothing quite like a great wodge of braised meat to warm you up after a bracing walk by the sea.

We stayed at Jeake's House in summer of 2011. Very nice staff. We found it very atmospheric. Good breakfast too. Would definitely stay there again.