The Sweet Service Award goes to Apricus Locanda B&B in a tiny village called Apricale in Liguria in Italy, just over the border of France, and its vivacious Dutch owner Jeanette. I was introduced and driven to the establishment by Jan restaurant Owner/Chef Jan-Hendrik van der Westhuizen with his mother, one of his favorite places to get away from his high-pressured lifestyle. On our way there, Chef Jan took us to see the Cours Saleya market in Nice, and stopped at various spots for us to see Nice, St Jean Cap Ferrat, and Monaco. B&B owner Jeanette has a great decor touch, her breakfasts over the five days were excellent, she was informative, her rates are reasonable, she is located in a very quiet area overlooking green hills, and even asked her husband to drive me to the nearest train station in Ventimiglia without accepting payment for it!
The Sour Service Award goes to The Blacksmith’s House B&B in Brockenhurst in the New Forest in the UK, and its owners Ken and Sheila. It was falsely advertised on Booking.com as ‘luxury‘, but in fact it was extremely basic, was run by amateurs who had taken over three weeks prior, and had never run an accommodation establishment before. I booked as a single, and was surprised when the room had a single bed in a child’s room with soft toys, the bed worn through in the middle, with a bathroom down the passage. I traveled the whole day from Apricale in Italy to Brockenhurst, and kept my hosts informed of my arrival time at about 21h00, only to receive a message that they are not a hotel, and therefore do not do personal check-ins, and that I should punch in a code into a lock at their front door. The road is very noisy, and there is no fan or air conditioner so that one can close the windows to avoid the noise. It was prescribed that we had to breakfast between 8h00 – 9h00, and leave the property by 10h00 so that they could make the beds! The breakfast was basic, the promised home-baked bread being supermarket bread in plastic packets, not even displayed in a basket or on a plate, and hams and cheese were on the breakfast table in Tupperware-type containers! They wanted to charge extra for a full English Breakfast and needed 24 hours notice to prepare it. I forgot a pearl ring I had inherited from my late mother at the house, and they initially denied that it was there. A week later they notified me that they had found it, and sent it to me by post to Cape Town!
The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog. Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at whalecot@iafrica.com. Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Tel (021) 433-2100, Twitter:@WhaleCottage Facebook: click
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Oh dear, UK hospitality at its worse and unfortunately not uncommon. There are some nice small hotels in the New Forest but hopefully you enjoyed the beautiful countryside?
I did enjoy the lovely greenery Lisa, and Chewton Glen, after this dreadful Brockenhurst B&B!