I should preface this review by saying how much I genuinely wanted to thoroughly enjoy my stay here. My husband and I are newlyweds and were looking forward to spending a mini-honeymoon weekend in N.Conway until work slows down enough for us to be able to go away for a couple weeks. I had read the previous reviews and was not even remotely concerned about peeling wallpaper or warped floors and doors. I've stayed in countless New England inns and feel as though such "defects" are standard in structures 200 plus years old and that they truly add to the character of the place. When we arrived on Friday night we were met by a very pleasant older couple who checked us in and helped us decide where to go to dinner. The room was smaller than I had anticipated but not uncomfortably so and it appeared cleaned and well-maintained, which is really a top priority for me. However, the next morning I noticed a substance that appeared to be dried blood on one of the blankets (making it impossible that it was caused by either of us), in a large enough quantity to be very easily noticed by whoever had initially made the bed. Though my initial instinct was to pack everything up and run, my husband and I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they were understaffed and it was an oversight. No one was at the desk when we went down so we decided to have some breakfast in the dining room and then call the reservation line to request all new bedding. Unfortunately, breakfast was not the pleasant experience we were hoping for. First of all, it was difficult to find a table without the previous diners used plates and silver ware still on it. Once we did find a table for two that was clean, we proceeded to wait almost 30 minutes for the waitress going between tables to notice us and take our pancake order (there are no more than 10 maybe 13 tables in this entire small dining room). She walked by us multiple times without even acknowledging us. This was on top of having no information about what the standard breakfast practice is at the inn, either from the innkeepers or in our rooms, so we weren't sure exactly how to proceed. Ultimately, we were too hungry to be ignored for so long so we left and went to breakfast down the street (which was delicious). On the way my husband called the reservation line and informed the woman how there appeared to be dried blood on our bedding and requested all new bedding. Rather than sounding appalled by this, the woman merely stated that it would be taken care of (not a good sign in my opinion). However, when we returned to our room that afternoon (several hours later) only the comforter had been changed and the blanket with the blood like substance (which was exposed when the comforter was removed) was still on the bed! When we went down to speak to the innkeepers about this and stated that we had requested all new bedding, they looked at us as though we were incredibly unreasonable and demanding. Finally, the bedding was changed, though not without unnecessary frustration for us. Then, as we were getting ready to go out for the night, all of the electricity in our room went out. My husband went down to tell the gentlemen at the desk and he stated that he would have to remember where the fuse box was now. Again, no apology for yet another intrusion into our honeymoon weekend. We ended up going out to dinner with no real assurance that we would come back to electricity. Thankfully, the electricity was back on when we came in but went out again first thing in the morning, making it very difficult to pack and get ready. At this point we were both done with the frustration and just dropped the keys off on the unattended desk on our way out. Unsurprisingly, we didn't attempt breakfast there again.
Like I said, I really wanted to love this inn. I'm a New England girl, born and raised, and have always preferred inns to main chain hotels not only for their charm and history, but also to support local innkeepers. Unfortunately, this is by far the most unpleasant experience I've had at such an inn, especially considering the significant nightly rate, and my husband and I will not be back.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
11 October 2011
WOW. I sincerely apologize. This should never have happened. First, thank you for staying with us and we hope you will give us another try. As for the bedding, please be assured that our bedding is sent out after each guest stay to a professional cleaning service in Gorham NH. I have called the manager there and asked them to inspect our bedding each time. As for breakfast, sometimes everyone comes down at once. We have 15 rooms and 11 tables. What happened to you happens maybe 3 times a year. That is no excuse, so once again I apologize.
Thank you for taking the time to write your review and again, thank you for staying with us. Our oil man thanks you too!
Isaac Merrill House
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC