Thank you for your kind review and we are so pleased that your stay with us was a good one. We understand that there are both good reasons and sad ones for visiting places but we sincerely hope your next visit will be in happier circumstances. We look forward to welcoming you back.

Thank you for your thoughtful and glowing review, we are thrilled that you were charmed by the creaky old place - we love it too! We look forward to your next stay.

Thank you so much for your review. It is much appreciated. We are only sorry you stayed just the one night and hope to see you back at Catton Old Hall in the not too distant future.

We are a 5* rated B&B assessed by VisitEngland and awarded for the past 3 years a Silver Award for level of quality of accommodation and customer service and have achieved 100% rating for our standing of cleanliness for the past 2 years which only 5% of accommodation providers in England have attained. We are also recommended in the Michelin Guide for 2011. We are committed to excellent customer service and to offering quality to our guests and for this reason we are accredited members of KwikChex and qualify for their Proof of Quality.

We enjoy a high percentage of returning guests and verified reviews on Laterooms show that 93% of guests would stay with us again with 94% of guests saying they would recommend us to their friends. The overwhelming majority of guests express positive views about their stays with us borne out by the positive reviews on our own website and in the comments guest leave for us in our visitors’ book in the house and demonstrate their appreciation of what we offer by returning time and time again. To put this negative review into perspective, we have had over 3000 guests stay at the house in the past 3 years and the overwhelming majority have positive experiences staying here.

We believe this particular review to be malicious as it seeks to do harm to my business by presenting distortions and untruths which means its ultimate intention is to mislead potential guests into avoiding staying with us.

1. Yes, I do have ‘certificates on the wall.’ They are known as degrees and I have three of them: I do not think it is appropriate to apologise for being educated. Some may also think to own a house such as this is proof of success.

2. This is disingenuous. We are a B&B and, therefore, this is our home into which we warmly welcome and invite paying guests. The overwhelming majority of our guests are delighted to be treated as private house guests instead and appreciate the little touches of a home from home experience.
3. This guest and her husband were the only guests we have had stay with us this year at the end of March who complained of being disturbed by another guest despite there being a polite request in the room to consider the guests in the room below. The house is 400 years old and its timbers do creak and squeak which is part of the character of a period home and part of the charm which draws guests to stay here. There is a note on Laterooms, Booking.com websites making potential guests aware of creaky floorboards in the house and also on our own website booking terms and conditions. I apologised to these guests for the disturbance on 4 separate occasions (around 8.30am in the hallway to this guest herself but my apology was ignored, then at least twice during breakfast and once at check-out) and was led to believe by both guests that they had been disturbed throughout the night no just for 2 hours by early risers. This guest and her husband were not charged at all for their stay as a goodwill gesture and evidence of this is held by Laterooms as their commission charges were cancelled as a result.
4. This is untrue. Toast may be cooked either by guests themselves or many prefer me to cook it them. A notice on the toaster explains how to use the toaster and it has been there for 2 and a half years. There may be a slight delay in cooking toast in the breakfast room when I need to collect breakfasts from the kitchen to take to the breakfast room. I do not cook breakfast; my mother does.
5. Photos of the size of our breakfast appear on the Laterooms website and also on Booking.com for potential guests to see before making a reservation. Our breakfast has been rated ‘excellent’ for 2011 by a VisitEngland inspector who recommended we serve it on a larger plate – it is currently served on a dinner plate so can hardly be called small. We operate a breakfast order system so that variations can be made to suit guests’ individual requirements. We have one regular guest for the past couple of years who is well over 6’ tall too who only has a poached egg and slice of toast for breakfast. Height does not necessarily dictate size of appetite.

On check-out this guest’s husband did not make any complaint in regard to any other aspect of their stay apart from being disturbed by other guests. He accepted the waiving of the room charge and did say they would book an attic room the next time of staying. We are always delighted to talk to guests and ask for comments about their stay during and at check out. This guest did not inform us of any problem at any time. We, therefore, feel this comment is misleading and grossly unfair.