“NOT your home away from home... if u just want a nice room with no service then pay for it and go here”
Bed and Breakfast for me means “a home away from home.” I think it should feel as though you are staying with long time friends. As a business owner myself, I expect a certain level of customer service which includes being treated kindly, with respect and most certainly feel welcomed. When choosing a B&B, I often choose 4* plus because I want a certain amount of luxury as well as being waited on. For my husbands birthday weekend we chose the St Georges hotel because they advertised that they were dog friendly and they had a room available with a Jacuzzi en-suite bathroom. This was perfect for us (even if the bath was only for one).
Owning our own shop open 7 days a week 362 days a year we do not get away often so when we do, we like to be pampered! Sadly despite paying £90 per night plus an extra £5 per night for our golden retriever, Hyatt, we were completely disappointed in out stay. The reasons are not few but many…
-Firstly we were greeted by one of the owners who was frankly not very welcoming nor inviting. She barely spoke 5 words to us and after almost a 4 hour journey from Bournemouth this was not a great start.
But hey, we are quiet people and keep to ourselves.
- The next morning we brought our dog down for breakfast and we asked if we could sit in the bar area (not where everyone else was eating) with our dog to have breakfast. This was agreed upon although they seemed annoyed that was not where they had set up our table. During the meal I fed hyatt his breakfast on the floor with water (in his bowl) as well. And as dogs do, he did dribble a bit. When the lady (owner) came in I told her I would clean up after the dog of course. She did comment that he was “making quite a mess” and that if we did this tomorrow they would put down newspaper. Again I assured her I would clean up after him.
-Breakfast was pretty mediocre and although was suppose to be a full English there were no signs of baked beans or hash browns in site. My husband was still hungry when he finished his meal and I gave him some of mine to eat healthier... sadly for me the strawberries hadn’t been washed and there were small bugs on them to prove it… not quite the 4* experience we were paying for [to say the least.] There is a weatherspoons down the road you would get better food and value there!
-we left for the day and as we were leaving the maid asked if I wanted our room serviced. I said a hoover would be nice. (With dog bone bits and the three of us having gone to the beach combined with not the biggest of rooms… u can imagine it needed a hoover].
-When we returned from our lovely hike on the beaches and cliffs we were greeted by both owners who did their best to spoil the day…. I must explain here that our dog is an 8 month puppy who is still learning and curious and was curious about the tassles holding back the curtains… so my husband took them off and for whatever reason put them in his pocket. When we went out he realised this and we had a good laugh… Upon our return as soon as we walked through the front doors both owners came to us demanding to know where the tassles were. We explained and they did not laugh like we did… (By the way… we did have a credit card on file)… Then one of them said they think the dog has been on the bed and “Do not allow the dog on the bed”…. She also told me that the brown throw that was on top of the bed they took because it doesn’t always get washed and it was obvious the dog was on the bed… Now I must say this conversation was disturbing for several reasons:
1. I read the welcome folder in the room from cover to cover and there was no information in there nor was any information given to us about what the dog is and is not allowed to do. The dog had tried to get on our bed (it’s a new place) but we told him no… And is it not our home away from home? If we want the dog on the bed is that not OUR choice?!
2. The brown throw…. That is DISGUSTING that it is bedding NOT being WASHED after each new person uses the room! I am glad that they took because that is seriously gross.
3. We did not intentionally take the tassles and they would have been back there that evening, it seemed to be blown out of proportion…
And the story continues :(
So after the awkward exchange where we now DEFINITELY did not feel welcome. We went up to the room and we had no toilet paper and the room did not get hoovered. I went down stairs but no one was around to speak to so I left a note and said I felt like although our room had been inspected and yet it did not get serviced. And then took some toilet paper from the communal toilet for our room.
Later that evening we were both dressed up and about to go out. The two owners came to us again… I hadn’t even gotten down all the stairs (in my heels) and they said they had received our note and do not understand what I meant by saying the room had not been serviced. I explained how I asked the girl to hoover and they said that both of them had been in our room and there was a lot of stuff on the floor and they did not expect her to hoover around our stuff. I said there was a clear path and that was all I really needed but understand. They said she had made our bed and I said that I had made the bed that morning…. Their reply “well she made it better”…. OK thanks for that…. There was no sign of an apology or how can we make it better… my husband interrupted and said we were going to go out now…
The next morning after taking puppy for a morning run we were told he was not to come down to breakfast with us… An obvious attempt to be spiteful and lets just say NOT try to make up for the way we were treated.
It is such a shame because Perranporth is a LOVELY place to visit. This was our first time. We love the beach and hope to go back but we will DEFINITELY NOT be staying at St Georges Hotel! The Watering Hole is a restaurant on the beach where dogs are WELCOMED inside and out! The food is amazing and they even do a FULL HEARTY ENGLISH breakfast! Yum Yum! But the BEST is their ribs that just fall off the bone! And they do some nice Cornish mussels too!
We are looking for a luxury room in the area that does not just allow dogs but WELCOMES them! So any suggestions are welcome! Thanks!
Room Tip: Room is small and on the road which is loud but does have a jacuzzi bath for one in it.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
7 December 2011
Thank you for your review. I feel sure that, should any potential guest take the trouble to read your lengthy take on your weekend stay with us, they can only be relieved that we do not fulfil your expectations of what a “home from home” should be. If we did, we would certainly no longer be in business.
Throughout your review you have misquoted us and much of it bears no resemblance to the truth, but having had quite a few conversations with you during your stay, it was obvious that you have your own version of what truth is, as you do of what a “home” is.
Making the decision to become a pet-friendly establishment is always a tricky one. Until your visit we had no regrets about doing this, as we have found all our guests to be, like us, both respectful of our home and considerate of those with whom they are sharing it. Pet-friendly hotels would be non-existent if all dog-owners followed your example of behaviour.
Having taught for many years and having our own children, of a similar age to you, we understand high-charged and excessively emotional rants. We hope that, with maturity, you will learn to respect other people and realise that, when committing feelings to paper, less is best if you wish to keep your credibility and integrity intact.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
