Staying in a small-town hotel in a tourist area such as Warwick, one might reasonably expect a warm and hospitable establishment. The Old Fourpenny Shop Hotel in Warwick has tastefully-furnished rooms and a motel configuration at the rear. But the style is not that of a hotel but more notably a pub with guest house.
The manager explained that the reason for the hotels lack of stars was due to the unavailability of room service. It is more likely to be because the establishment completely lacks a hotels look and feel and as I found, has all of the incumbent rules and regulations of a guest house. One almost expects there to be type-written signs in the shower, asking the occupant not to splash too much water or to make sure the door is fully closed before showering.
The private-house culture was slightly conspicuous from the outset and I should have known better. Booking a nights stay by telephone beforehand and asking where the hotel was situated, was a question apparently too irritating for the manager to answer. She told me in a haughty manner to have a think about it and call back. I was by no means taking time to decide I wanted somewhere fairly quickly.
After an initial welcome and being escorted to the room in a friendly manner, we settled down and even benefited from a little advice about local restaurants.
Sadly, things had changed the next morning, when arriving for breakfast in the nicely decorated dining room. I arrived well before the 10:00am breakfast curfew and ordered my wifes breakfast because she was a few minutes behind me. Although it could make no difference to the cook, this didnt appear to concord with the managers view of acceptable behaviour she immediately looked at her watch to see how much time my wife had; perhaps after which her breakfast would be destined for the bin.
She then explained to me that several people had been late for breakfast and that it was embarrassing. The cooked breakfast was very good but the two slices of toast per person might have been the result of upsetting the lady of the house. To be fair to her, she did put my wifes breakfast in the oven to keep warm. Another couple arrived shortly after 10:00am and politely apologised for being late. I cringed with anticipation at the couples sad fate. I was longing for another pot of tea, but I didnt want to push my luck.
After breakfast we then returned to our room and started to pack. At 10:50, we received a call on the telephone from the same lady, who gave me what she called a quiet hint that check-out was at 11:00. Feeling suitably chastised, I hurriedly finished packing and went to pay the bill, lest I should incur any further wrath.
Staying at the Old Fourpenny Shop Hotel is clearly a case a fitting in with the owners rules and expectations of guests behaviour. If like me, you feel that your school days are now over, youre almost certainly better off finding an experienced hotelier.
However, if youre brave enough to face the female Basil Fawlty, the Old Fourpenny Shop hotel maybe just what you need. Good luck.
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