Inne at Watson's Choice Bed and BreakfastNick2.3308/04/2008We thought that the hospitality at a bed and breakfast, particularly at a pricey one, was supposed to make you feel like family. We did feel like family, but family of the wrong sort: poor cousins mooching an uninvited stay, or surly jobless teenagers coming back from college.
Our host Bill was perfectly pleasant, but our hostess Nancy welcomed us with a stern lecture on the rules. No smoking, no bubblebath, no opening the windows (it turned out the AC was broken too) turn off the lights when you leave, doors locked at midnight, and absolutely no smoking (even though we already said we didn't smoke the first time). We asked if there were times she would like us to be out of the room for housekeeping, and she told us to read the rulebook she left. We asked if she could recommend some things to do in the area and she told us to look at their website. We asked about the county fair we had seen advertised and she scoffed at our interest and told us it was already over, even though it still had two days to go. We found pamphlets for a local winery with an out of date calendar of events and asked if she had any that were up to date. She suggested that we call the winery. We apologized after arriving 15 minutes late for breakfast and it was not entirely clear whether she was joking when she suggested that we make up for it by helping to clean the dishes. After asking the host's permission we fed some apples to the cows at the neighboring farm, and when she found out she scolded us because she heard of a cow that died after eating a bushel of apples.
We thought that our age (25) might have had something to do with it, but another pair of retirement age guests described her as "intense" and one guest was annoyed that she would not permit him to smoke a cigar even at the furthest end of the garden.
The facility was very nice, especially the garden, but our hostess's behavior sucked all the romance out of our anniversary weekend. We headed out for our daily adventures tense and fuming and snuck back in anxiously hoping not to be seen. We half expected to hear her knock at the door at night to check that us kids weren't getting up to anything inappropriate in the bridal suite, and the mood was spoiled so effectively that we didn't.
I can imagine a stay at the Inne at Watson's Choice being very pleasant, but ours wasn't.
We thought that the hospitality at a bed and breakfast, particularly at a pricey one, was supposed to make you feel like family. We did feel like family, but family of the wrong sort: poor cousins mooching an uninvited stay, or surly jobless teenagers coming back from college.
Our host Bill was perfectly pleasant, but our hostess Nancy welcomed us with a stern lecture on the rules. No smoking, no bubblebath, no opening the windows (it turned out the AC was broken too) turn off the lights when you leave, doors locked at midnight, and absolutely no smoking (even though we already said we didn't smoke the first time). We asked if there were times she would like us to be out of the room for housekeeping, and she told us to read the rulebook she left. We asked if she could recommend some things to do in the area and she told us to look at their website. We asked about the county fair we had seen advertised and she scoffed at our interest and told us it was already over, even though it still had two days to go. We found pamphlets for a local winery with an out of date calendar of events and asked if she had any that were up to date. She suggested that we call the winery. We apologized after arriving 15 minutes late for breakfast and it was not entirely clear whether she was joking when she suggested that we make up for it by helping to clean the dishes. After asking the host's permission we fed some apples to the cows at the neighboring farm, and when she found out she scolded us because she heard of a cow that died after eating a bushel of apples.
We thought that our age (25) might have had something to do with it, but another pair of retirement age guests described her as "intense" and one guest was annoyed that she would not permit him to smoke a cigar even at the furthest end of the garden.
The facility was very nice, especially the garden, but our hostess's behavior sucked all the romance out of our anniversary weekend. We headed out for our daily adventures tense and fuming and snuck back in anxiously hoping not to be seen. We half expected to hear her knock at the door at night to check that us kids weren't getting up to anything inappropriate in the bridal suite, and the mood was spoiled so effectively that we didn't.
I can imagine a stay at the Inne at Watson's Choice being very pleasant, but ours wasn't.
Response At the Inne at Watson's Choice, we strive to offer our guests the ultimate in hospitality. It is our intent to provide a warm and welcoming atmosphere for all of our guests. Therefore, we believe that it is our responsibility to gently remind them of some housekeeping items that will make their stay most pleasant. In this response, we wish to address each of this couple's concerns so that all may have a better understanding of the reasons to have these policies.
With the current energy shortage, we do find that it is necessary to remind our guests of turning the lights out when they leave their room for an extended period of time. In addition to saving energy, this small detail results in lower electric bills and keeps guestroom rates from increasing.
Unfortunately, during this couple's stay, the air-conditioning malfunctioned due
to an electrical storm. They were informed that there was a problem and suggested using the ceiling fan in the guestroom.
Regarding the smoking policy, we do strictly enforce no smoking in the Inne
and near entrances to both facilities. We take the safety and comfort of our guests very seriously and guests are reminded of our no smoking policy for this reason.
The hostess know that there are numerous attractions available within a 30-mile radius of the Inne for guests to visit at their leisure. The Inne works with the chamber and the visitor's bureau to provide ample brochures and booklets that best explain these numerous options and also our website has an extensive
tourist guide. This material is conveniently displayed in two areas in the Inne and Harvest House. Knowing that the interests of our guests are not alike, we encourage them to contact these facilities directly to ask any questions, to learn more about the attractions and to make their decision to visit based on the information that they were given.
We do hope that this response clears up this couple's concerns. We apologize for the misunderstandings that occurred during their stay and do hope that they
will return to the Inne one day.
