The Tickled Trout

The Tickled Trout is a “Hidden Jewel”!! Jody and Hannah did an excellent job at Checking In and Out. Plus they were teamed up with Megan and Daniel for breakfast and dinners! The food was excellent and kudos to the Chef for his fantastic job!! Would definitely recommend this hotel for those touring in the Maidstone area!!

We had a great time, we really did. You know those evenings when you wake up smiling? We had one of those. A couple of niggles but nothing major and overall I would confidently predict you will enjoy this place. We arrived half an hour early having booked a room and a table on a sunny Saturday in August. We found A quintessentially English, village pub, a short walk from the really beautiful Teston Country Park, and run by staff who were unfailingly cheerful and helpful our entire stay. From the first interaction where we were taken to the room, without any silly discussions about early check in fees, to the knowledgeable bar staff discussing the wines and the superb winery lager - which was 5% -much to the wife's chagrin the first impression was excellent. The room was large, clean, full of charm and the bed was really comfortable with a Huge shower cubicle, which can be a bug bear for me being 6' 4''. If I was being hypercritical the ensuite has a partition rather than a wall so when you are using the bathroom nothing is left to the imagination in terms of your partner sharing the sounds but maybe just turn the TV up! Otherwise the room was excellent. We then enjoyed the walk to Teston which was a very pleasant couple of hours. You can even stroll along as far as Maidstone if you really get your walking shoes on but a few kilometres was fine for us to build up a thirst! We then showered and headed down for dinner around half 6 to find that for some reason our online table booking had not gone through. Staff were very helpful though again and we were seated at a pleasant table in the bar. I have to say the food was then first class. The Camembert starter, Trio of Pork and Cod fillet were all faultless. My wife then eschewed a desert in favour of an Ameretto Sour (Which was delightful) and then promptly used the spare spoon to eat half of my banana waffle! We then spent a wonderful evening, after retiring to the sofas for no small number of glasses of wine and Old Fashioned's. Staff were again cheerful and friendly without ever being intrusive and I am not sure they could have done any more to make our evening more enoyable. As we headed off for bed £193 for the bill did not seem excessive at all given what a great evening we had and we slept very well. The following day we decided to stay for breakfast and this was the only element that was average at best. Service was again faultless so no blame there but the quality of the breakfast was not really on a par with experience up to that point. Scrambled egg was very watery and my eggs benedict suffered from the criminal watery split hollandaise sauce. However the coffee was excellent. This came in at £43 so for that price,as harsh as it may seem, I do expect that sauce to be rich and creamy not watery and split. As we headed for the car(Free parking too) we agreed without hesitation that we would be back, and my wife was even pushing to try all of the Vineyards pubs as they have a number acr

It could so easily have been so different. Arriving just around 9pm after a delay on the Channel Tunnel and riding 4 hours in over 20 degrees imagine our disappointment when asking "when does the kitchen close" to be told "it just has..." No food offered or available, we made do with a bag of crisps and some nuts from the bar closing "soon". On checking in, greeted by "I was just going to ring you as it is getting late". Then when our credit card had been taken to check us in and we, after 4 hours and having been told no food wanted nothing more than to get to our room we were told "before I show you to your room ill just serve these folks at the bar if that's OK". No I said, it's not OK. "I'm on my own at the moment". Thats not my problem I replied, we were here first. Can't we just have our room key? No, I need to show you some things. "I'll only be two seconds". No you won't I replied. And he wasn't. There at least three staff we saw there. We could order Uber if we wished and he would give us plates and cutlery. When we came down from our room the Chef was sitting at the bar having a drink before leaving. Was it really impossible to have prepared us a cold plate for our arrival or microwaved a last portion of lasagne? Or even an apology he'd finished for the night. Nope. Hospitality and a little common sense is missing here. Breakfast, we saw 4 staff and we were the only 2 guests. Very little welcome and a half hour wait for breakfast which was tasty when it arrived. I'd never stay here again. I'd recommend anyone to find somewhere else. It needn't have been like this. Just a little training, some hospitality and little common sense. What a waste of money. Hope the review is helpful. Stuart

Very disappointing venue. We booked breakfast her for around 30 people and paid a deposit. We were told to be seated for 10:00 am for breakfast to be served. We ordered endless tea and coffee and juice. The tea & coffee machines were not working, and we had to wait for staff to investigate. Breakfast was served at 10:30. Breakfast was palatable. There was no butter for the toast, and we had to request and wait for it. No sauce on the tables, and again, we had to request and wait for it. So all, in all, there is without doubt room for improvement on service. We all paid for our breakfasts individually. Then the lady who organised the breakfast went to collect the 10% deposit that was paid for booking confirmation, only to be be told that they will be keeping the deposit for the service charge !!!! No prior warning !!!!

Great small hotel with amazing food. Lovely garden to enjoy a warm summers evening

Stopped here en route to Italy by car. Lovely location, very peaceful. Very pleasant and warm welcome, we were shown us up to our room. Excellent room with all facilities, bed very comfortable. Very good meal, drinks reasonably priced. Good breakfast, however service a little slow. Would definitely come back.