I have very mixed views about this place. When we arrived it was not the best experience. We walked in and were roundly ignored by a kid doing important things on the internet.
I rang the bell at reception to summon an Asian lady who asked us to pay there and then (it didn't work- the phone line on the credit card system was down). We were shown up to our room which was fairly Arctic.
I had the impression that the hotel had not been occupied for a while, as the heating was off, there was no hot water, and several little things were not right about our room, e.g. blown lightbulbs, limited tea making facilities on day 1.
The "hotel" is situated on the promenade near a major street called Broadway, and is a good 15 minute walk to the town centre, probably fine on a summer day but more of an undertaking in January rain and gales.
Breakfast is a little limited. I often think that sausages are a good baseline for breakfast quality, and the nasty condom with indeterminate scrapings was not the finest I have encountered. However the same lady (who seems to do everything) was very attentive offering extra toast and tea.
The box of tea bags we left out clearly had an effect as on subsequent days the tea and coffee facilities were better stocked.
One area which partly won me over was that althought they prefer to serve breakfast 8.30 to 9.30 our timetable required earlier starts, and our indefatiguable proprietress was very helpful in providing breakfast earlier on several days.
Overall the lady tried hard and I feel sorry for her- but the £65 a night charge and limited breakfast quality make it hard to recommend this place.
- St Winifreds Hotel
