A reminder of why we opened Well House Manor for our customers
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2013-05-17 07:12:33 - Graham EllisTwenty years ago, I would have been happy with the B&B I'm writing from. The room's clean and recently decorated, the bed's comfortable and the traffic noise from outside is bearable. But, alas, times have moved on and these days people want more - indeed that's exactly why we opened Well House Manor for our business guests... later extended to business guests of other local businesses, and now as a generally available hotel.
So - what are the issues that have changed?
Firstly, I prefer en-suite. Now I knew this was not when I booked it, but I still expected a wash basin in the room. Tough, there isn't one. And - worse - the single shared loo doesn't have a washbasin either; the only wash and water available is in the single shared
Secondly, I like a bit of space. This room's a single. And it's a single because that's all that could fit between the door and the wall. There's no room for a bedside table, so in order to put something aside, it's down to the floor or up and across to the little "dresser/desk" which is very suitable for smaller people.
Thirdly, I welcome a welcome tray and, yes there is one (queue for water at the shower room). And I would love to be able to plug it in. I'm able to do so, provided that I unplug either my laptop or the TV, but the kettle must remain and boil on the floor because the built-in cable isn't long enough to reach up to the dresser.
Fourthly, the description of the location is "Oxford". Postal address, maybe but it turns out that it's on a very long street and is beyond even the ring road. Bit of an issue as I left my car where I'm working and walked here due to the traffic issues of the City. An enquiry of where there's a nearby place to eat tells me to go to Summertown - that's a mile and a half, and advises me to get the bus if I don't want to walk.
Fifthly, the welcome was "a la seaside landlady". Not "did you have a good journey", but "I'm glad you got here [at last] because we're going out". And that was at around 18:30, when I had booked for arrival between 18:00 and 19:00.
In the 1990s, this would have been fine - the sort of place where First Alternative delegates used to stay when I was training for them in Harwell. But times have moved on, everyone (or nearly everyone) has upped their game and although it's clean (and does offer WiFi) it's fallen behind - and behind to the degree of being "sorry - I wouldn't stay again".
The price I'm paying? The same as I paid for a hotel about half a mile from Paddington station last week, which overlooked a London Square and was just round the corner to Bayswater. And that was en-suite. Mind you - the London place is exceedingly good value!