I stayed in Sussex's most haunted inn The Mermaid Inn

You're probably imagining a rickety abandoned old farm building, miles away from civilisation and surrounded by a vast expanse of foreboding forests and various mechanical tools.

What you almost certainly aren't imagining is a quaint, attractive inn on a quintessential rom-com-like English street.

Torrential rain was battering the windscreen as we were driving through East Sussex, on our way to The Mermaid Inn in Rye. The closer we were getting to our eerie destination, the worse the weather was - almost as a warning of things to come.

I explained to my partner about the rumours - the spirits and poltergeists who haunt the rooms at night, the floating orbs, and the unexplained changes in temperature.

After taking a circuitous route around Rye a sign for the 12th-century inn was a welcome sight; the black cat that crossed our path in the car park somewhat less so.

Mermaid Street in Rye (Image: The Argus)I fell in love with the timbered building and the cobbled Mermaid Street it's located in, but hearing the stories about the rooms makes you take a different look at the site that was reconstructed in 1420.

Room 17 allegedly goes cold for no reason, and heaven help you if you notice the rocking chair rocking by itself.

An unsuspecting bank manager and his wife once woke up in room 10 to find a man walking through their bedroom wall. Terrified, they fled to the refuge of a downstairs lounge.

Read more: Secrets of Sussex’s oldest pubs revealed

On the other hand the somewhat cramped halls at The Mermaid Inn have been walked by presidents, models and superstar actors. How scary could it really be?

I didn’t find any ghosts in the lobby, two lounges, the bar or the restaurant. However I did find a witch ball in every room – big round glass balls meant to ward off evil spirits and spells.

The Mermaid Inn in Rye from its car park (Image: The Argus)

We were shown to our room, the James Room, named after Charles James who was the mayor of Rye between 1996 and 1998. Guests over the years have reported seeing a Lady in White there - which I wasn't too excited about. A flying orb or a few doors slammed, I could deal with. But a Lady in White...

As we dropped our bags on to the floor, church bells started to ring in the distance. A scene that would have been perfect for a horror movie.

Our room was really impressive. It had a disused fireplace but the highlight was a 600-year-old wooden bed (with a modern mattress, of course). The bathroom was beautiful with stone walls painted in white, old paintings and mirrors with gold frames.

Pictures and autographs from celebrities who have stayed at the inn (Image: The Argus)

I met with Judith Blincow, the owner, who has worked at the inn since she was a teenager. She showed me the inn's stunning artwork, impressive cellar and antique wooden chair that brings bad luck to anyone who touches it. She admitted she once saw the silhouette of a woman when no staff or guests were supposed to be around.

Read next: Rye named most 'naturally beautiful' place in UK

After dinner, my partner and I went back to our room and decided to test the claim that guests who leave clothes on the chair overnight would find them wet because of the ghost of the Lady in White.

We weren't sure which chair the claim was about. There were three, so naturally we tested them all.

Throughout the night I was woken up a few times by noises of creaking wood. The first few times, I kept my eyes shut as I'd decided I really didn't want to see a ghost. I eventually turned the light on, but nothing was there.

The morning arrived and the clothes on the chairs were fully dry. We'd survived our first ever night in a haunted inn. I didn't see or feel a ghost, but really loved staying in an inn with so much history and character. A must-visit for anyone in Sussex.

A green witch ball in the top right corner of one of the lounges (Image: The Argus)Over the years, the inn has hosted a myriad of celebrities from USA presidents to la crème de la crème of Hollywood.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Charlie Chaplin, Dame Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Kate Moss and dozens of other famous names stayed in there.

It’s pretty clear why the inn has accumulated such a star-studded guest book. I immediately fell in love with the inn, its charming decor and its surroundings.

The bar also boasts one of the largest open log fireplaces in the country - perfect for an autumn evening.

Food and drinks

We had a couple of ciders at the bar and then headed to the inn’s restaurant area to try its lovely menu. I was very impressed by the wine selection and we got a bottle of St Emilion, which was perfect with the butternut squash risotto I had as a starter and the sea bass with crab gnocchi and caviar I had as a main dish.

My partner enjoyed his scorched local mackerel with a warm potato salad and pork belly with fondant potato and we were so full by the end of our mains that we decided to share some sorbet.

The price was very reasonable, I thought, a two-course dinner costing £34.50 and a three-course dinner costing £44.50.

A night in the James room costs £250.