The current building dates from 1420 and has 16th-century additions in the Tudor style, but cellars built in 1156 survive.

[2] The inn has a strong connection with the notorious Hawkhurst Gang of smugglers, who used it in the 1730s and 1740s as one of their strongholds: Rye was a thriving port during this period.

The AA Rosette-winning restaurant serves British and French cuisine and features medieval-style artwork in the interior by the Slade School of Fine Art.

It was a notable alehouse during medieval times, brewing its own ale and charging a penny a night for lodging.

[2][8] Catholic priests who had fled from Continental Europe escaping from the Reformation during 1530 stayed in the inn, which is testified by j.h.s.

[4] A resident of Rye remembered the smugglers as; "when the Hawkhurst Gang were at the height of their pride and insolence having seen them (after successfully running a cargo of goods on the seashore), seated at the windows of this house (the Mermaid) carousing and smoking their pipes, with their loaded pistols lying on the table before them; no magistrate daring to interfere with them".

It was then a popular locale for many artists like Dame Ellen Terry, Lord Alfred Douglas (Oscar Wilde's "Bosie"), A. C. and E. F. Benson and Rupert Brooke.

[2] The Mermaid Inn had the honour of hosting a luncheon to Her Majesty the Queen Mother when she was named as the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports during her visit to Rye in 1982.

The black and white timber-framed and tiled building, with dark oak and carved stone chimney pieces,[5][13] was constructed in the mid-15th century;[6] the author of Old Sussex Inns identifies 1426 as the date.

[5] The south-facing elevation, the oldest section apart from the cellars, has a five-window range to the upper storey and attic space above.

The upper storey is jettied, and the section to the west extends over the entrance to the inner courtyard and former stable area.

The ceiling has thick and dark teak wood beams while the windows are made of lead frames.

[18] Room 16 (Elizabethan) was said to be the scene of a duel involving two men "of unknown date and origin"[18] (although they have also been described as wearing "16th-century clothing").