The Goudhurst Inn

Enjoyed a lovely overnight stay. Comfy well appointed rooms and a delicious dinner and breakfast. Great wine list too!

With my young son being coeliac it is often difficult to eat out safely. But The Goudhurst Inn catered wonderfully for him. He had the lamb kofta for starter and a pizza for main. It was all prepared and cooked separately to avoid cross contamination. Unfortunately both my children are fussy eaters so didn’t eat much, however if I’d had room to eat theirs, I would have! The staff were very knowledgeable and were very honest when they said they couldn’t do anything on the children’s menu gluten free. All in all, a real little gem for coeliacs or anyone following a gluten free diet!

We usually stay at The Woolpack in Tenterden but on this occasion they were fully booked, so thought the Goudhurst would be of the same standard. Unfortunately this was not the case. The seating area around the bar consisted of ripped chairs with stuffing come out. My room appeared spotless on first glance, however on closer inspection, there were hairs both in the bath and the sink, as well as dirty marks under the toilet lid. The rooms can get quite hot, although by opening the windows, the noise of the traffic was so loud. I had to sleep with the fan on and the windows closed, it was a really bad nights sleep. We ate in the restaurant which was okay, although some items were unavailable and the fish & chips I ordered did not taste right, I couldn't eat it, so I literally paid £17 for chips. I honestly think this hotel could be so much better, having stayed at their other hotels, this one was really disappointing. The only positive parts to our stay came in the form of staff members Beth & Erin - they are a really credit to the brand. Would I recommend this hotel? No Would I stay here again? Sadly no This stay for 2 rooms and 3 meals has cost us an absolute fortune, and the experience was bad. Beth & Erin - they are a really credit to the brand. Would I recommend this hotel? No Would I stay here again? Sadly no This stay for 2 rooms and 3 meals has cost us an absolute fortune, and the experience was bad.

The food was good, without being outstanding, we had one dinner and two breakfasts over our two night stay. Our room was small and a bit noisy with the traffic, but that can't be helped. What could be helped was the cable and satellite TV, which wasn't working at all; the phone didn't work; the illuminated mirror in the bathroom didn't work; the waste bin hadn't been emptied since the last guest; there was one breakfast teabag (our favorite) between two of us, with no teaspoon. It didn't get off to a good start when the two young girls took over 15 minutes to book us in, when we had made, and paid for, a booking through **********. We actually left them to it after 15 minutes, as we needed to get changed for dinner, they really couldn't operate the inefficient management system in place. They kept my card whilst we got ready, and charged me again for our stay, which I finally had refunded 5 days later. I emailed the manager, as suggested, the following and got no reply, so I rang the next day and finally spoke to a lady who knew what to do. Overall, disappointing, we won't be going there again.

Such a disappointing experience here after a fantastic time at sister pub The Swan last week. A group of locals who apparently frequent the pub daily became extremely aggressive and were screaming obscene language at another table across the courtyard. No effort was taken by management to eject the local group until 10 minutes of shouting later, when they walked out, smashing their glasses off of the table on the way. Extremely disappointing handling of an intimidating experience and management didn’t apologise to our table or offer anything because of our experience. Won’t be visiting again as it’s clear they were locals who visit daily and clearly their custom was more important rather than the long term impact of other customers. This experience aside, the Sunday roast was possibly one of the best I’ve ever had so credit to the chef there.