The Bowl Inn

The Bowl Inn is a lovely pub located in the countryside with easy access to many beautiful villages and also not far from Maidstone. Great spot to use as a base for touring around Kent & East Sussex. Great food and very comfortable accommodation. Super friendly and cosy place! If we lived close by this would be our local for weekend meals/visits. It is what I expect a pub to be like!

The Bowl Inn was a little difficult to locate but once found it was fabulous!

Spacious pub/In which has plenty of dining space. The evening meal was excellent, plenty of choice from the menu and the local beers are well looked after and well worth a pint or 2. Breakfast was superb, even the the half full english! is plenty enough. The room we stayed in (8) was very comfortable and spacious with its own balcony and tastefully refurbished. Bathroom was spotless. Even though you could hear the music from the dining area downstairs, once the pub closed, everything was quiet. Plenty of parking, but you will need a car, not sure there is public transport nearby. Close to the North Downs way so conveniently placed for a quality overnight rest. Staff could not have been more helpful.

Hard to find any issues as we really enjoyed our stay. Water pressure in the shoer was below par and coffee was not at the same level as the Ale in terms of quality, but these are really small issues.

Booked a one night stay at the Bowl Inn. It is in a good, quiet location, and very peaceful. We stayed in one of the rooms on the ground floor, it was very comfortable with a great shower, as it was pet friendly it had a small enclosed garden which would be nice in warm summer evenings. The bar area had a great atmosphere with plenty of seating, the restaurant was busy, the food excellent, as were all the staff. Breakfast was included with the meal, there were lots of choice and it was very nice. I'd highly recommend it and would happily stay again of visit for an evening meal.

Couldn't fault our stay

The breakfast was amazing. So much choice, the finest local produce, amazing coffee and great service. It’s in a strange place but it suited us as we were visiting our daughter in Ashford. Ample parking. Nice pub. We didn’t eat there in the evening but the menu was varied and enticing. There were lots of people staying but it was really quiet. Beds were really comfortable so slept a solid 8 hours ❤️

In the middle of nowhere it seems. We did find a nice walk close by though. Toilet is a munching toilet so very loud. Best not to flush at night.

It was an absolutely wonderful experience. The room was spacious, well-equipped and had everything I needed for a comfortable stay. The staff was amazing - they were always friendly, kind and incredibly helpful. I also enjoyed the food and the selections of beer at the pub, which were simply delicious. Overall, it was an excellent stay and I would highly recommend this inn to anyone visiting the area.

Some routes near the inn are really narrow, with enough space for only one car on the two-way road. Therefore, you need to drive carefully.

Breakfast menu was very flexible and we could mix and match! It was good to stay in an individually designed room. We liked the peaceful feeling during the day - there was no road noise living at the meeting of 5 lanes in the middle of nowhere at the top of the North Downs.

Having to check in in a noisy and crowded bar was a bit of a shock, but it was the Coronation Bank Holiday weekend after all and it was quieter for the rest of the week. In our room we should have liked a few larger drawers to unpack into.

The staff was very attentive, friendly and helpful. The team changed, so we didn't see the same faces every day. But that made no difference to the service they offered. You got the feeling that everyone was a team, and enjoyed working there. We had the garden room and it was spacious, with a lovely big shower and very comfortable bed. Great to have our own little garden area to sit out in.

We battled a bit with housekeeping on the second night in that our room wasn't dusted, and milk and water weren't replenished. However, a quick request at the bar for supplies and we were sorted out. It certainly didn't detract from the stay, so I think it must have been a question of being shortstaffed on the day.

Beautiful old building restored in keeping with its age and with huge roaring fire in bar area. Our room was within the old building as were all other rooms and extremely comfortable with the original features of the building unspoiled.It was an extremely cold night but the room was warm as were the bar and restaurant ( restaurant had underfloor heating). We had a meal of a high standard in the evening from menu with good range of choices at reasonable prices. Staff excelled in their friendliness and willing to help even tracking me down to let me know I had left my glasses behind and how they coul be returned. We can't wait for another opportunity for a visit.

There was nothing that we didn't like

Nicely fitted out and decorated. Enjoyed the balcony. Staff were superb; nothing was any trouble, and they were very friendly.

Breakfast items such as cereal, bread, fruit, yogurt, tea, coffee, juice etc should be set out so that guests can help themselves. Having to order a single slice of toast from a member of staff (which then arrives on its very own wooden board) is quite ridiculous. Let me help myself please! Especially when my overnight stay costs £170. Also, what did they put in the scrambled eggs? They should be yellow and fluffy, not beige and oily. The locks on the rooms need to be changed. One should not have to remember to lock the door - it should lock automatically on closure. Bathroom needs a light just for the mirror which can be illuminated without having to have the main light on.

Characterful, traditional country pub with about nine rooms in lovely surroundings. Sitting out in the garden would, I'm sure, be out of this world in the summer. The breakfasts were fantastic, as were the meals in the restaurant - the portion sizes are very generous. The restaurant was quite quiet on Friday evening but busy on Saturday - worth booking in advance. The staff were all really friendly and extremely helpful. Loads of car parking.

Hard to think of anything at all! The location is a bit off the beaten track and - probably because of this - the wifi isn't that fast. Fine for keeping up with e-mail, doing Google searches, but maybe a bit of a struggle for video conference calls (something I often need to do while I'm away).