We run a hotel. And because I teach training courses away, I stay at lots of other hotels too. That gives me an excellent opportunity to learn about how others do it ... to come back with ideas to adopt, and things which we should take care to avoid. Such feedback is valuable for us and for our team at Well House Manor as it helps us do even better - just as we enjoy getting other feedback and ideas by watching TV programs such as "Four in a Bed". I have written the following review in such a way that the establishment will remain anonymous; whist I received excellent value and just might stay again (near to where I sometimes train, good night's sleep, close to takeaways) it's not all positive and probably wouldn't be seen as good publicity!

Enough of the pre-amble

---

I can't expect a 35 pound a night room to come up to the standards of a 85 pound room, can I? So I'm going to comment rather than complain at the lack of en-sute facilties, the lack of a desk to work at, the "slight" version of the continental breakfast, the lack of a front door bell ("knock the letter box" you learn later) the creaky floorboards, "we have no parking - you should be OK in one of the residential streets around here", and the front door ("please lock behind you") which was so stiff or had a knack I couldn't get. For the price, what I got was considerable, and fulfilled my needs. Very old fashioned (cash rather than card), not especially business guest friendly (not VAT registered, teddy bears and dolls occupying the chair!), but based on my Monday night stay, I would stay there again.

On Tuesday, I couldn't stay over - a Chamber of Commerce meeting meant that I had a long commute home and back to where I was training.

On Wednesday, I had prebooked the same place, but this time found myself - for two nights - in their new 'luxury log cabin'. Now that was a real surprise to me in a tight-packed Victoria Terrace area of a big old town, hard by the massive retaining walls of the railway embankment (which is now a footpath, so no train noises!). My over-critical eye noted a few things (hey - I'm in the trade so I'm tuned to them!) - the ash tray on the patio beside the cabin door which had the previous guest's butts still floating in rainwater in it, and the "mood" lighting which made it pretty darned impractical to read were little things. Returning at the end of the second day at work, my cabin had been serviced (good), but I was shocked to find that it hadn't been relocked and the admittedly-little I had left there was open for a casual walkin theft - and it should be born in mind that the cabin is in the accessible garden, and not within the hotel behind any other door.

On my second morning, I rose early - to discover when I went to shower that my shower mat and large towel had been cleared the previous day ... and not replaced. OK - little slipup, and I did still have a handtowel that provided a little drying capability. And I noticed that the two hospitality tray mugs had shrunk to one. Then I'm in the shower, and an insistent knock on the door is heard; covering as best as possible, i unlock the door and - with an apology - I'm handed a larger towel and bathmat with a "sorry - overlooked" comment from the proprietor. Nice gesture / good follow up when he or his partner discovered the error. Huge shame that they [towels] stank of his tobacco smoke, which I learned to my distaste as I dried.

Did I raise the matter of the door being unlocked with the proprietors? I was going to, but no. As I paid that morning, I asked where I should drop off the key when I was done - "through the letter box?". "Oh - just leave it in the lock, we've never had any trouble" was their reply, and that was my signal that they were at least aware (and could take casually) the security.

For 35 pounds for the second and third nights then? Yes, again a good deal. I actually prefer the security of an inside room, the ability to get to my room without having to pick my way over stepping stones over the sodden garden, and light enough to read papers without eyestrain. But would I have stayed in the log cabin with Lisa at the double rack rate of 80 pounds? That's getting rather close to our 95 for a double. Perhaps I would with the dogs - after all, I found the hotel on a per friendly site. But one small problem - I mentioned this to the proprietess to find out whether 1.5 greyhounds and 0.5 staffie would be a bit much, and she told me "we DID once allow some dogs to stay BUT ..." and apparently the experience is not something she wished to repeat. Indeed, she asked me to let her know where they were listed as per friendly, because they ain't. You can't believe everything you read online!
(written 2012-10-20)

 Z801 - Pettifog
  [52] International awareness - (2004-09-17)
  [87] Too sittings - (2004-10-13)
  [90] Rude old people - (2004-10-16)
  [323] 1 in 48 steel - (2005-05-24)
  [439] You cant - (2005-09-08)
  [471] And it gets even better - (2005-10-21)
  [478] Watch what you wear - (2005-10-26)
  [519] New Road - (2005-12-06)
  [562] Smoke and mirrors - (2006-01-12)
  [600] It costs nothing to say THANK YOU - (2006-02-11)
  [638] A pile of sand? Where do we stand? - (2006-03-08)
  [783] Good follow up ... my thanks - (2006-06-28)
  [791] Strange housewarming - (2006-07-03)
  [815] Time trickles like water through a sieve - (2006-07-27)
  [826] Fighting illegal net use by imposing download limits - (2006-08-09)
  [1170] Smoking, or no? The law insists we spell out the obvious - (2007-05-01)
  [1337] A series of tyre damages - (2007-09-08)
  [1349] Cash is not an acceptable way of paying - (2007-09-13)
  [1741] Age Concern - (2008-08-07)
  [1783] Think before you send - (2008-09-02)
  [1839] Job application - (2008-10-13)
  [1862] Remember your units - (2008-10-31)
  [1972] Pettifog and forum boards away from public view - (2009-01-03)
  [2122] Commission Creep - (2009-04-08)
  [2193] Excellent product, excruciating customer service. 3 Mobile Broadband - (2009-05-21)
  [2625] Both feet on the same pavement - (2010-02-05)
  [2761] A small business, facing a big government questionnaire - (2010-05-12)
  [2788] Cost of Sales - (2010-06-01)
  [2937] The cat in the dustbin - (2010-08-27)
  [2944] What others cannot do in 10 months takes Virgin 10 minutes - (2010-09-03)
  [3013] Audio equipment - (2010-10-24)
  [3030] Liquorice allsorts and Dolly Mixtures - (2010-11-05)
  [3084] Can you trust the big brand names? - (2010-12-12)
  [3302] Are you a half full or half empty person? - (2011-05-25)
  [3749] Removal of water safety equipment, and how to use a lifesaver ring - (2012-06-04)
  [3835] The Information age - not yet truly with us? - (2012-08-12)
  [4140] Riots in Melksham - (2013-07-13)
  [4167] The important customers are the majority, not the celebrity - (2013-09-08)
  [4282] On tipping - and the expectation of a tip - (2014-07-10)
  [4304] Please do not ask me to be the chair! - (2014-09-25)
  [4354] Wiltshire Police - assuming someone is guilty just on the say-so of a member of the public? - (2014-12-16)
  [4630] The story behind the bus cuts, and what they could mean - (2016-01-24)
  [4651] Pressure selling in the fire safety business - (2016-02-19)
  [4720] Celebrating our diversity rather than discriminating for it - (2016-11-02)

M401 - Well House Manor - Seeing how others do it
  [17] Differing tastes - (2004-08-17)
  [514] Crazy Day-sies - (2005-12-02)
  [619] If its Sunday, it must be the Norland - (2006-02-23)
  [693] The on line booking experience - (2006-04-21)
  [699] Extremes costs of getting on line - (2006-04-25)
  [714] Room for Octopuses - (2006-05-08)
  [736] New Tape Librarian - (2006-05-28)
  [966] CSL, KISS and RTFM - (2006-12-05)
  [1011] Well House Manor and Beechfield House, Hotels, Melksham - (2006-12-29)
  [1026] The Wheatsheaf 2, The Bell 0 - (2007-01-09)
  [1091] The Psyche is all wrong. - (2007-02-24)
  [1205] Arrival and Departure experiences - another hotel - (2007-05-26)
  [1287] Work and play at Well House Manor - Football and Shell Shortcuts - (2007-08-02)
  [1301] Plastic or China - (2007-08-12)
  [1333] Kasteel Elsloo - Michelin rated hotel. - (2007-09-05)
  [1347] Wireless Internet Access at hotels - an update and some pitfalls - (2007-09-12)
  [1354] Match the Bedroom to the Hotel - (2007-09-17)
  [1356] Crystal Ball - How long do I need to be online? - (2007-09-18)
  [1374] Maidenhead Coffee Challenge - (2007-10-02)
  [1406] Away or home - which do I prefer? - (2007-10-25)
  [1413] The little gestures that can really count - (2007-10-27)
  [1454] From Sunday to Monday, from Melksham to the Balkans - (2007-12-03)
  [1458] The wrong way to put up prices - (2007-12-05)
  [1525] Just one thing let the service down - but that is my memory - (2008-01-31)
  [1547] New bathing idea for hotels from Hotelympia - (2008-02-20)
  [1597] Comparing hotels - as a guest and from the proprietors view - (2008-04-01)
  [1672] The Composting Cone Challenge - (2008-06-10)
  [1758] Lindors Hotel, near St. Briavels, Wye Valley - (2008-08-18)
  [1915] Quietly putting prices up - (2008-12-02)
  [2007] Launch of Melksham Food and Drink Festival - (2009-01-24)
  [2105] Hire Car, from Atlanta Airport - (2009-03-27)
  [2127] Call in the professionals! - (2009-04-12)
  [2308] A new place in pictures - (2009-07-28)
  [2311] Floor to ceiling - (2009-07-30)
  [2413] Sanity checking the price, and selling up to increase income - (2009-09-21)
  [2441] Not your cup of tea? - (2009-10-08)
  [2502] Monday night, Tuesday night - (2009-11-13)
  [2885] Twenty Questions - (2010-07-24)
  [2911] Feeding the Grockles - (2010-08-09)
  [3054] Longhope Hotel - (2010-11-16)
  [3333] Honesty and a friendly welcome goes a long way - (2011-06-25)
  [3368] Well House Manor hotel, Melksham - recommended to you by our customers - (2011-07-23)
  [3754] Eyes Wide Open - (2012-06-06)
  [3776] Some traps it's so easy to fall into in designing your web site - (2012-06-23)
  [3794] Should hotel staff sit on the toilet in the customer bedrooms? - (2012-07-02)
  [3963] National TV - Melksham - 9th January 2013, Pre-alert. - (2012-12-27)
  [3970] Comparing four VERY different places to stay - (2013-01-11)
  [3975] Being an amateur hotel inspector helps me run a professional hotel - (2013-01-14)
  [4058] The highs and lows of customer service - Cheltenham - (2013-04-03)
  [4081] Pushing down the advertised price, pushing up the total price charged. - (2013-05-08)
  [4091] A reminder of why we opened Well House Manor for our customers - (2013-05-17)
  [4093] More things to make sure that we do NOT do ... - (2013-05-18)
  [4109] What might you find at a tiny bed and breakfast? - (2013-06-03)
  [4177] Setting and publishing your hours to suit your customer base - (2013-09-18)
  [4245] It always happens to me when I'm in Borehamwood! - (2014-03-06)
  [4255] Making a personal gain from a more expensive business hotel stay - (2014-04-02)
  [4321] Are administration / review charges on hotel guests acceptable? - (2014-11-20)
  [4348] Taking my life in my hands in Swansea - (2014-12-11)
  [4373] A long and disappointing evening - (2014-12-30)
  [4443] Seventh stay away this year - and it's still only February! - (2015-02-25)

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