The Carpenters Arms

Recently renovated and nicely decorated, everything looks brand-new. Friendly staff willing to help. Lovely restaurant with great food and good atmosphere. Quiet and confortable rooms very well furnished. We will come back in the future.

We had a lovely night in this lovely village pub. The room was spacious, clean and had a lovely welcome pack of snacks and a Nespresso machine. The pub was busy which was great to see. The restaurant was busy too. Our food was delicious. Very tasty and reasonably priced. We had breakfast included which was delicious. A table of cereals, pastries, toast etc and a menu to order cooked options. A fantastic outdoor area. Large and very pretty with inviting looking BBQs for better weather! We would definitely return.

Stayed two nights. Room very quiet and more than adequate with some nice details. Breakfast good, among best in pub-hotel class, simple poached egg and bacon perfectly executed. Dinner: calves' liver nicely done, trout OK but not best in class, plenty of vegetables on offer. Real ales, decent wine list (Nyetimber by the glass, nice!). Senior waiter floated about in a somewhat disconnected way (could have sold me more drinks if he had made himself available or asked before turning away!), but younger waitresses more alert. Manager/landlady Ruthie Bowers very warm and charming, works hard and takes trouble.

The accommodations are very nice. Hotel is small- just nine rooms. Our room was updated and very clean. Bed and pillows were comfortable. Bed linens appeared new as did towels. The staff is very friendly and helpful. The shower was hit and miss with water flow stopping in the middle of the shower on two separate mornings. We reported it and were told there is a problem with the pump. Water was plenty hot when it flowed. Despite the shower challenge, we would stay here again. It’s centrally located for travelers visiting the significant castles and manor houses in Kent. We found other meal options. The restaurant seems to be short staffed so service was very slow. At breakfast there was one person to handle breakfast service and hotel check out. She did everything she could to accommodate us but was just one person with no back up.

Came out for dinner with an old friend of mine. Experience was absolutely superb from start to finish. From the greeting at the front door to when we left. Food, wine and cocktails were amazing. Thank you to the whole team for a wonderful evening

Nice quiet, clean room with all amenities. Food in the bar/restaurant was decent and not too pricy. Need to make sure tables are cleaned straight away, we had to ask before sitting down. Breakfast for £15 is OTT. i don't need a cooked breakfast midweek.

A very well presented room with coffee, tea and an honesty bar in the room, with good facilities provided and a comfy bed and pillows. Unfortunately for me the room was far too hot for my liking, the bath had a constant dripping tap and there were a lot of loud creaking floorboards. The staff were very accommodating and helpful but sadly we had to bring to the managers attention when paying for breakfast ( as a group of 10 and 5 of us were bed and breakfast guests the others joined us) were charged effectively twice for breakfast. This was quickly remedied by the manager, but an unnecessary mistake. I would stay here again as overall a pleasant stay thank you.

My partner and I were given a buyagift voucher for Christmas which we chose to redeem at the Carpenters arms Tonbridge. We booked a table and were seated, our waiter hadn’t served someone using a voucher before so told us that the manager will be over shortly to discuss it with us. After a 45 minute wait, the manager still hadn’t spoken to us so our waiter (who was absolutely fantastic in every possible way) told us to order and the manager will have to sort it out later. After we ate (the food was delicious) we went to pay the bill and were told that the voucher wasn’t accepted at the premises - which was incorrect - so I had to foot the entirety of the bill. She offered to remove the service charge to lighten the load to which I accepted. However, after looking at my bank balance this morning she didn’t even do that. This manager (Sam) had a terrible attitude from the minute we walked in to the minute we left, she used the excuse of “I have been meaning to see you but I’ve just been so busy” when there were multiple times during the evening when I witnessed her standing there doing literally nothing. Will never be returning and will be warning people away.

We came on New Year’s Eve booked a table for 8 in the name of Bartlett and were told it was in the restaurant table 37,when we arrived we were taken to another room where there was no one else eating from the restaurant menu.We were very disappointed and have emailed you about our experience and you have not bothered to reply. We have all been coming to this restaurant for many years,so we were very disappointed to have been treated this way,when our friends were booked and they were in the restaurant.