Checking-in with…

One of our new year’s resolutions is to read more, so we could not have checked – in with a more perfect subject this month to inspire us. Alex Preston is the journalist, academic and award-winning author of 6 books, including the best-selling Winchelsea, in which The George features. He lives in nearby Sandhurst. We are delighted to be hosting the upcoming launch of his latest novel, A Stranger in Corfu, here at The George on 6th February. It is the tale of murder and intrigue on a Greek island where spies are sent to be forgotten. It is being developed for television by Ink Factory.

What brings you to The George?

I’m there as often as possible to eat – my best birthday ever began with breakfast at the George followed by a swim at Pett Level. And then it’s the most wonderful place for a night away, particularly in winter, when you can just imagine yourself back to the eighteenth century. It’s one of the truly great hotels.

List 3 things you won’t leave home without?

A good novel, a tweed jacket and an unreasonable sense of optimism.

What is your earliest hotel memory?

Naples after a night-train from Milan. A hotel on the seafront. Scalding white light on the water.

What is the best/most important part of staying away in a hotel for you?

The feeling that someone else, with experience and a sophisticated mind, has thought through all the small details, so I don’t have to.

What are you currently reading/binge-watching/listening to?

I’m re-reading Simon Roberts’ superb book about the interaction of humans and computers, The Power of Not Thinking. It’s necessary reading in the age of AI.

Do you have a hotel lobby/lift story you’d care to share with us?

I was in the bar of the Georges V in Paris years ago when a properly A-list Hollywood star came and sat next to us. He taught me how to cut and smoke a cigar, told us the most scurrilous celebrity gossip, made a pass at my girlfriend and then fell over on his way across the lobby.

What do you always forget/lose when you go away?

The intention to do nothing and relax. I usually remember just as I’m checking out.

Hypothetically, who would you most like to discover is a fellow guest?

I’m a member of the Authors XI cricket team and we’ve been on numerous tours together, staying at some wonderful hotels in India and Italy, Greece and Iceland. Having Tom Holland, Peter Frankopan, Sebastian Faulks and Adam Rutherford to entertain me over breakfast is one of the great privileges of my life so far.

What helps you get to sleep at night? (Keep it clean!)

A clean conscience. Failing that, Balvenie 17-year-old The Week of Peat whisky.

My secret Rye discovery is…

The moment Rye Harbour opens into sky, shingle and silence.