Restaurant with rooms, or country hotel, Boys Hall gets a lot of things right! Under 2 hours from London Bridge (direct train), I've stayed there twice. Read on to see what I liked- and what I didn't about it.
You'll need to take a taxi from Ashford to the hotel (I wouldn't walk it even though it's only 30 minutes, because the walk isn't very nice, and sometimes there's no pavement.)
This is a BEAUTIFUL place to stay- the rooms are amazingly decorated. SO stylish and comfortable. (They're the reason I returned twice actually.)
It also has a beautiful garden. You're welcomed with a cup of tea and cake (there's a choice of 2) and it feels like you're visiting a posh friend, not just staying in a hotel.
The food... isn't great. I wonder if it isa cultural thing, since apparently a lot of their income comes from the restaurant (and they're always busy), but I didn't enjoy the food. (Neither did my Mom.) It wasn't bad (I mean, I did return twice!) but... it felt quite pretentious. (A lot of very fussy flavors on the same plate but they don't go well together!) I was quite shocked to see that it is mentioned in the Michelin Guide. (Oh an English lady we met there described the Caesar salad as "grotesque" so.. might not have just been us who weren't impressed with the food.) The service is terrific though! So friendly and nice (although they did bill me wrongly for a bottle of sparkling water which I didn't order. (My neighbour did.) I didn't want to make the waitress' life difficult so I just paid it.)
They do, however, do very good sandwiches.
Downside is there's nowhere you can go without a car (from the hotel.)