The Hand & Sceptre in Tunbridge Wells

Expensive food but Nice and nice hotel Room

Stopped for a coffee and was really pleased I did

Great food & drink with very friendly welcoming staff

The inside is very pleasing. The menu is extensive with something for all tastes. A good lunchtime menu too at fair prices. The food presentation was very good but some dishes were disappointing. Wine by the glass is over priced. I requested a table by a wall to help two disabled members of our group and we were given a table in the middle! Happily we could move to a better suited table. There is no indication in the car park of the entrance location so we went to the front on the roadside and my poor husband struggled up steps to a terrace and past garden chairs to the entrance. We asked if there was a flat access and were told yes, at the back but the door is locked so you have to ring to enter! I went to look and discovered two disabled spaces and a flat walk on the terrace to the entrance but again, not indicated. When you don’t know a place it’s good to have helpful signs.

We stayed here for one night and had dinner and breakfast. Very comfortable, clean and good size room for our requirements. It was a Sunday and we had a table booked for 7. I hadn't expected there to be any Roast left by that time of day but we were lucky enough to get the final 2 Roast Chicken. We were very pleasantly surprised that although these were the last 2 after a very busy Sundsy, thy were excellent, Chicken moist and succulent, generous amount of potatoes and veg. Very enjoyable and good value for money. The staff were very friendly and efficient,. Breakfast was equally as good . Would definitely stay again if in the area.

Being local, I've driven past hundreds of times and never before been in. I finally got the opportunity when meeting up with some old friends for dinner. The restaurant area is surprisingly big, and the whole place is a bit of a tardis! The food and drink is a bit pricier than other pub/eateries, a pint of Amstel coming in at £5.80 a pint. We each had starters which split between the four of us so we all got to try a bit of each. Port and cheddar mushrooms, black pepper squid, beef croquettes, and king prawns, all of which were excellent, although you only get 3 croquettes so had to split one so we each got one. The mains were very impressive. I had the dirty burger, which was made with very high quality meat, so I was more than happy paying the price for it! It is also served with some of the best fries I've had, and a dipping gravy which tasted like it has been made properly with the juices of the meat. The food itself arrived very quickly, but drinks took quite some time to get to the table. The wait staff were friendly and had a good laugh with us too.

Went to here for dinner whilst staying down at another hotel for work. Good service, good food

Excellent food well presented and served by Vito. Lovely location and very friendly surroundings. Will definitely come again when in the area. Thank you

Great for a family night out, Vito was welcoming and kept us laughing the whole night. Celebrated a birthday and we were sung too. Will be coming back!!

Turned up for lunch whilst travelling through and met for a family lunch. First impressions of the decor were excellent and the whole experience lived up to that first impression. Superbly made & presented food, absolutely delicious. Everyone enjoyed their choices. Andy, the main chef, is clearly very dedicated to producing superb food. Our waiter, Don Vito, was brilliant at his job and clearly enjoyed it very much and took his quality of service very seriously. He is a great character and is good fun. An asset to this restaurant. We will be back for sure.

Great food, service and atmosphere in the restaurant. Thank you Jacqueline for lovely service. The hotel rooms are very comfortable and we would definitely book again.

Jacqueline was brilliant. Food great

Had a lovely anniversary dinner at The Hand & Sceptre. Food was top notch and the service was fantastic. Special shoutout to Vito for looking after us so well. Bellissimo!

We dined here celebrating an anniversary dinner here and was served by Vito the whole night who was nothing short of AH-MAZING! He was so attentive, HILARIOUS, so caring and would 1000% come back thanks to his service!!!!! Food was also amazing, highly recommend the karaage chicken as a starter, crab & prawn linguine was amazing and the sticky rum toffee pudding was out of this WORLD soft, flavoursome, just DIVINE❣️

Great service, best beef I’ve had in years, our waiter, Vito, was great, brilliant service, will be coming back and recommending to others

I recently dined at Hand & Sceptre, and it was an exceptional experience from start to finish. The meal was outstanding, with each dish prepared to perfection. The flavors were well-balanced, and the presentation was beautiful—definitely a treat for both the eyes and the palate. What truly elevated the evening, however, was the excellent service provided by our waiter, Vito. He was attentive without being intrusive, knowledgeable about the menu, and gave thoughtful recommendations that enhanced our dining experience. Vito’s warm personality and professionalism made us feel welcome and well cared for throughout the meal. Overall, this was a top-notch dining experience, and I highly recommend, especially with such an excellent team member like Vito ensuring a memorable evening. I look forward to returning soon!

Lovely room. We arrived quite late after a wedding at the Salomons estate, it’s ideally located for this as it’s only a 5 minute drive away, and the staff were very helpful. The room was lovely and clean with a great shower. Breakfast was nice with a good choice. Would gladly stay again.

We visited Hand & Sceptre restaurant on Tuesday 8th October - wonderful!! Our food was lovely and our waiter Boogie was delightful!!

Vito was an excellent waiter, and has made our evening. The best evening we have had in ages 5 Stars to Vito

Haven't been here for a while, but I had forgotten what a nice place this is. Great ambience, lovely staff, and the food is absolutely superb. We had a lovely lunch served by Sarah, who was attentive and caring. Highly recommended.

First time back & we were very impressed with the whole experience, food, service, ambiance everything was just right for us & our friends. Highly Recommended ... Go For it...

The staff were very warm, polite and friendly. The service was timely, and the food was great. The staff were knowledgeable with the drinks menu offering a great choice of wines and something sparkling. The atmosphere is stylish yet has a cosy pub vibe. Would definitely like to return in the winter when the log fires are lit. Overall, very delightful experience and would happily recommend to friends and family.

Food very tasty. Service extremely slow by waiting staff and kitchen

Visited for lunch. Great food and wine. Relaxed vibe and friendly staff.

Only visited for a party. Reasonable bar service

Food excellent great service from Vito and food superbly cooked by Andy.

Beautiful meal in a lovely warm and welcoming environment. The food and service were fantastic and the team seemed to have a great respect for each other. We will definitely be back soon. My only gripe: As my mum is elderly and has problems walking it would have been good to have direct accessibility access from the car park. We had to walk around the pub despite being parked directly in front of a door which could have gone straight into the dining room but said no entrance. Update:I visited recently and was served by Vito. Great water and again most excellent Sunday Roast!

A delicious lunch shared with friends, extremely charming Italian waiter, Vito who has a great sense of humour and was very helpful. The restaurant is extremely comfortable, great decor and has an excellent atmosphere. We would definitely return to this venue.

I randomly stopped here on my way home and had a delicious pie and mash. Staff were friendly and the food arrived quickly. Lovely place.

Thanks for a great lunch Vito and team! ☺️

During our stay on our motorbike Holliday, we have had excellent service from Char the lady and Andy the cook, who made us a perfect delicious breakfast. The manager Bruno has also done a great job. Thank you all guys. See you next time.

The bloke from the football event taking a leak in the car park wasn't the best welcome.

Perfect food perfect drinks wonderful waitress Jacqueline will be back definitely

Sarah and Dannii were very welcoming and friendly and the food was delicious, amazing service!

I didn't stay, but had food in their restaurant. Itsxwas very nice and the service excellent. Not intrusive, but often enough to ensure I had everything needed, thank you Vito.. Free parking was added bonus. There is a lovely patio to sit outside if you wish.

Vito our waiter was fantastic. He made us feel so welcome. Thank you Vito.

Had a lovely lunch with my family here…great service from Vito. Will be back again.

Great service by Vito, very friendly!

We had a lovely babyshower brunch and our waiter, Vito, was brilliant. We were quite a large party with children and were sat away from the rest of the restaurant which made our time much more relaxed. Nothing was too much trouble for Vito and the food was great. 5*!

Great food and service. Vito is the man 👍🏻

Nice outdoor area. Managed to watch some cricket on the green

Food was nothing special and overpriced. Dont think i would return

Lovely place to visit and the pizza is amazing 😍😁😋

Good view. Lovely food. Pleasant staff

Great food and service. Boogie was a great waiter

Popped in for a coffee, was pretty basic.

Lovely location, very friendly staff, food great. Every member of the team was so friendly and the new member of the team Boogie was very helpful and fun which made our evening. We will definitely be going back again.

Don't bother What can I say, checked in and checked right back out...the whole experience was one of the worst ever.On arrival after a 7 hour drive the 2 girls behind the bar both went 'we can't check you in'...someone then appeared after about 5 minutes...no smile, no welcome,just threw a form at me to complete. The room was booked for 2 nights but it was nothing like on the website...like a shoebox..on the main road which was noisey.. the window wouldn't shut, the bathroom floor had a massive pool of water, the so called luxury toiletries was a nearly empty bottle of hand wash. I did go to reception to complain and we were offered 2 other rooms which looked slightly more like the ones advertised but I was too upset by then and just wanted to get out of the place especially when one of the rooms she showed us she caught the edge of the desk and the front strip was then hanging off. It is very hard to believe this hotel had a refurbish last year as it is very tatty and needs a lot doing to it.

Good service. Clean and welcoming. Only had drinks but would go back and have food after the postive experience we had.

Really nice food, great service from Ellie our whole time there. Drinks were also nice and food came out in a timely manner

The food and service from staff was fine but the length of time between courses was unacceptable.

The Hand & Sceptre made me my own dish of Mac & cheese with chicken and bacon was 10/10, the team was very accommodating. Thank you Gabor the chef.

Disappointed. Was looking forward to going for a morning coffee whilst waiting for a grandchild to finish an activity locally. Customer service poor and slow. The chairs that could be used for having the coffee were small in height and no good if you had a back problem or were tall. Even though it was mid:late morning people were still having breakfast so there was limited capacity for non residents. Tables were available outside but as it had rained overnight were wet. I asked to sit on a table for 2 in the resturant area as it had proper chairs, and that was fine. After moving items from the laid up table (trying to be helpful) a catering staff came out and made it very clear by their stroppy actions they weren’t happy with us being on the table. Totally unnecessary noise and flounce you’d expect from a teenager but not a professional. After the first drink, we moved as it was getting towards lunchtime we tried to be helpful and the breakfasting guests had dispersed from their high stool seats. We then waited whilst other guests who had arrived after us were served even though we had placed our order first. We then had to ask for our drink, which we then helped bring over - we had all of 1 cup of tea from the pot (rather costly for just one cup!) . The young girl serving was repeatedly given other jobs in between serving the guests which was causing holdups for people who had ordered. Had given up by this time- not a pleasant experience just felt unwelcome and would have been better going elsewhere. Won’t be returning I’m afraid I felt quite fed up and a second class citizen by the time of leaving.

We were guests at a wedding at Royal Tunbridge Wells, (Sunday 28 July) after a 6 hour drive we came upon The Hand & Sceptre, great location, and a car park. All in all a very nice looking pub that had food available. The decor is very pleasant 'modern traditional' if such a style exists. We entered the pub and ordered our drinks, this is when it started to go down hill. The two members of staff behind the bar made us feel as if we were intruding in their time, or getting in the way. 'Please & Thank You' are not swear words lads! Nor is the ability to engage with the customer. The drinks were banged down on the counter, my wife asked for one of them to be topped up and received a glare as if she'd insulted his mum. Look, I know we all have off days but there did seem to be a genuine indifference to us. The girl who serve our food by the way was very pleasant, and the food was very nice. Would I go there again? Yes , but I'd have a look in to see who was behind the bar first!

Stayed for a night away from the kids, my wife and I had a great meal and really nice drink in the bar after and finally a fantastic nights sleep will choose to stay here again

Tremendous lamb roast and cask ale. The food was beautiful and the service excellent. I've been here before a number of times with the family and will continue to chose the Hand and Sceptre for Sunday lunch.

The bar manager was friendly and polite. She was the only member of staff who seemed to care. Took ages to get served. Head on my drink was bigger than Jimmy Carr’s tax bill. Ordered a steak sandwich for around £15. A few small bits of steak served in an overly toasted bread with warmed up fries. Great venue overlooking the cricket green. With some staff training this place would be epic.

Lovely pub, position and rooms. only fault was being unable to open more than one tiny window a couple of inches on a very hot night.

Great food and setting, perfect for a summers evening

Very nice Hotel, friendly staff, nice rooms and nice fresh breakfast.

We had a wonderful stay here, lovely food in the restaurant, very quite and comfortable room. The staff were very friendly, the service was great. The breakfast was very large and tasty. We would definitely stay here again if in the area.

Pretty, small, relaxed hotel with very friendly staff. Nice interior design. Dannii and Aimée served us a very tasty traditional and vegetarian breakfast. We were passing through and would come back.

Very nice hotel, the rooms are clean and very comfortably furnished! Friendly staff and we were looked after very well by Danii and Aimee. In addition, the location is pleasant and there is a nice terrace :)

Highly recommend the wine & dine menu at Hand & Sceptre. Good choices of wine & food to suit everyone’s tastes. We had the lovely Yaz serving us all evening, very attentive & bubbly, happy to help with menu recommendations too. Thank you very much Yaz!

A reasonable room in a pub. Fairly clean. Comfortable bed. The bathroom was a bit tired and needed a lick of paint. Didn't have breakfast so I am unable to comment on it. Important context: My experience was a 1 night stay and does not represent this establishment in it's entirety. No-one in hospitality sets out to provide a poor experience. Anyone can have an off day

70th Birthday buffet gathering for about 60 guests in the function room - All the staff were brilliant, particularly Anita and Bruno! My twin brother and I had a great time and so did our guests judging by the feedback we have received !! Highly recommend !!

Friendly professional service complimented by the lovely lunch time menu

Three of us went for an evening meal on Wed 3 July. The female who eventually turned up just stated this is the only table we have. She was charmless. I really cannot understand why you employ people like that. The food was ok.

We were served wonderfully by Steff and Emma. The food as always never disappointed us.

Had Sunday lunch for the 1st time at the hand and sceptre, the booking process was very easy and they sent reminders nearer the time of the booking date, the restaurant was very clean and tidy, we had the traditional Sunday lunch which was extremely tasty and hot followed by the quirky coffee and mini dessert, which was very good value for money, surprised more restaurants haven't picked up on the idea!! The service was excellent and our waitress Jacqueline was very polite, helpful and smiley, a very good advert for the restaurant. Will definitely go again at some point.

Will definitely stay again. Brill value for money.

A lovely meal, decent value and excellent service by Steff. We would definitely come back and recommend to our friends.

Had a lovely lunch staff very accommodating, food top notch. And great interaction with chef Chris. Thoroughly enjoyable would highly recommend

Great food, great atmosphere and fun and friendly staff! Will be coming back!

I visited the pub again last week and it didn't disappoint. Food as always delicious, manager even remembers our names now, which is really nice 🥰 they great with kids and dogs too. One of my favourite places to go, even for a cup of tea 🤗

Excellent food and really great staff. Ellie who served us was wonderful. Nice ambiance for a catch up with friends. Good variety of drinks

Don’t go here! Verbally abused by customers who are friends with the bartenders. Won’t be going here again!!

First visit since refurbishment. Very impressed.

We booked to dine here but found that the service and lack of staff seemed to be a problem. We had been seated on a choice out of their 2 smallest tables despite them having only one other customer in the restaurant. We were not asked if we would like a drink and sat there without anyone offering to get us a drink for a good 10 minutes whilst we viewed the menu and so we walked out and ate somewhere else.

First visit to this restaurant, very pleased. Lovely ambiance, lovely staff, made to feel very welcome. Food was delicious and nicely presented. Good value, will make sure we revisit.

We have visited a few times, and the food is always delicious. Today was no exception. But the service is atrocious. We went for father's day,so was busy, but not packed. We ordered off the father's day menu. Only 1 starter came out. When the staff eventually came to clear the plate, I asked about the second. They said they'd chase it up. They'd clearly forgotten it. (At this point we'd been sat at the table for 50 minutes) Once it arrived there was no apology. As I am eating it they brought out the mains, even though they could see I was clearly eating my late starter. Again no apology. One of the mains was wrong, they'd forgotten my added extra mushrooms to the burger. Whilst eating our mains we asked to order our dessert as we had our young baby with us and needed to get back. Once we'd finished our mains and we're waiting for dessert the waitress told us they needed our table in 15 minutes even though our desserts hadn't been delivered yet so how could we leave? And it was implied it was our fault. We wouldn't have been so long at the table if it wasn't for their poor service. Again no apology. We asked for bill as the desserts arrived. When payment was taken there was no sorry or even acknowledgment of the issues. There was other tables around us complaining and we really tried to be polite and understanding to the waitress as she clearly was not coping with the workload. Maybe she needs more training? I am torn about this place because the food was very good when it did come, it always is, just the service is absolutely atrocious so I don't know whether I'd put myself through that again

Food was very good and service was good

Stayed here for the first time and what can I say. Beautiful location overlooking the cricket ground, which is lovely to watch on a Sunday afternoon. Steff was brilliant, super helpful and welcoming. Food was delicious. Couldn’t fault it, will definitely be coming back!

Food is incredibly expensive. Two items on the menu not available, "we waiting for chicken to arrive" we were told. Not going there again in a hurry.

I dined out one sunny Saturday and had an incredible experience, the wonderful sarah was our server - smiles all round and she never let our drinks run dry. Will be back soon !

Great food and great service, will definitely be back!

Jay is a amazing host and wonderful manger

Lovely experience , great food amazing time will definitely came back

Absolutely amazing service and all the staff where very friendly and welcoming would definitely come here again

Steff was a fantastic host. The food was terrific , too.

Steff was a lovely host! Answered all of our questions and was extremely welcoming :)

Lovely meal with my family this pm. Delicious nut roast, I think worth paying for. Nice big area for the baby and children. Service was prompt. My dessert was extremely small for nearly eight pounds. It was a creme brulée. We wondered if a mistake had been made and I was given a mini dessert ? . When I travel to France this year I can console myself as the creme brulées are bigger. So I would eat a main course there again but hesitate on the dessert

Lovely looking venue, polite staff but sadly the food didn't live up to expectations. My wife's pizza was very charred. The chicken was okay but nothing special. Poor selection of beers too, only the ubiquitous Pride or Doom

I booked this hotel for 2 nights bed and breakfast last minute as I was let down by another hotel, it was a little more out of the way than planned but it was lovely. Check in was easy as I checked in online, the room was nice and cosy and had everything we needed. Didn't hear much noise, only a few creaks when people were coming in and walking past the room, and a few cars driving past but nothing that spoiled our experience. Breakfast was lovely and included in our price. All the staff we encountered were nice, friendly and always said hello. I would definitely stay here again if in the area.

We went for a bank holiday lunch, the main was lovely and cooked well, but one of our group went for the crème brûlée dessert, it turned up in a tiny dish, with about 4 mm of dessert, it was literally a scraping on the bottom of the dish with two raspberries, it wouldn’t have filled a dessert spoon and this cost us £9.50. All the other desserts were a decent size, but the crème brûlée was ridiculous! This over priced, incredibly small dessert has put us off returning!

Love coming here for Sunday lunch. Jay is amazing and very accommodating. Jaqueline was our wonderful server. Olly did amazing on his first day.

Nice little hotel. Nice personel. Despite the busy street in front of the hotel, very pleasantly quiet thanks to the double windows. Breakfast typically English. To recommend!

The food was mixed quality. Service acceptable not outstanding. A person from kitchen came out several times. He was wearing an indescribably dirty top which I imagine started as white , now a very grimy grey . It was really off putting to think he might be preparing food. Complained about uncooked potatoes but no real acknowledgement given.

Very expensive rooms considering it's rooms above a pub. Distinctly average.

I went to the Hand & Sceptre to meet up with family for a quick lunch and catch up. The bar and seating are was really nice and clean. Service was done with a smile and the staff attentive. I have not rated rooms as we did not stay. All in all a very nice establishment.