My husband and I booked this B&B 10 days beforehand, as there were too many relatives visiting for us to stay with family just around the corner.
I received provisional confirmation immediately by email. On phoning the day before we arrived to confirm our booking, I had a very confusing conversation. The person who initially answered the phone (later identified as the cleaner) said she would check my booking and I then found myself speaking to someone whom I thought was the same person but who in fact wasn't, knew nothing about my query and did not introduce themself. I explained all over again and got my confirmation but was left feeling like customer service was not a priority.
On arriving, we were surprised to be told that breakfast was served as early as 7.30-8.30am on a Sunday. While were were prepared to accept this as a one-off, we don't consider such an early breakfast time conducive to a relaxing weekend, and we wouldn't expect this to be convenient for most guests, who are presumably staying for leisure.
The room was comfortable and looked like it had recently had new soft furnishings. There was a large flat screen TV. In understand wireless broadband is available, although no access instructions were provided.
My husband had a quick shower (no more than 5 mins) and I then got in the shower about 7.45am, only to find that no water would come out of the shower, and the pump appeared to be protesting loudly. I tried the hot tap in the sink, and found no water there either. So I got washed in the sink, so that we did not miss breakfast. We were staying with this B&B because of concern about whether the bathroom facilities at my relatives' house nearby could cope with 8 people. I was very unhappy and disappointed to be washing using cold water in the sink in a room for which we had paid £80 for the express purpose of avoiding this problem. On checking out, I asked whether there was a problem with the hot water, and was told that there was a switch which must have been turned off. We couldn't see a switch in the room, and if the switch had been turned off, why was there water available for my husband's shower? I was also told that I should have come downstairs to let the staff know about the problem. As I explained, I was in the middle of washing, freezing cold, covered in soap, and concerned about missing breakfast. If this is a problem about hot water capacity and multiple showers running consecutively, I suggest it could be anticipated and resolved based on the timing of breakfast for all guests.
We were also confused about policy on payments. I gave my debit card details when I booked. The email about my booking stated that payment is possible by cheque with guarantee card, debit and credit cards. When we returned to the B&B to sleep about 11pm, we were very surprised to find a notice on the ground floor indicating that due to spiralling bank charges, a £5 surcharge is added for debit and credit cards. We have never encountered surcharges for debit cards for transactions of £80 value. If surcharges are to be added, surely this should be made clear with the booking? To avoid paying a surcharge, I spent 30 minutes walking to a cash machine in the High Street and back after breakfast. When we checked out, and asked for clarification on the surcharging, I was told that there was no time for adding the charge, and this only applied in the summer when people were competing for rooms and prices were lower. This apparently arbitrary policy does not make sense: 1) if the bank charges are so high, why is there no need to surcharge everyone who pays by this method? 2) why would prices be lower in the summer, if demand is higher?
I emailed my concerns to Ann's House immediately after our stay in mid November (the owner was not available when we checked out) and over 3 weeks later, have not received a reply. I cannot recommend that you stay here.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
