A Cruel Joke

Ever since we missed a flight because we got stuck on the M1 or the M3 (or whatever M road it was), we have gone to the airport the night before our scheduled flight, returned the rental car and stayed in an airport hotel. This actually presented a few additional problems - none as bad as missing the flight - but annoyances all the same. For example, after we checked in to the hotel Mark would have to take the rental car back and either walk or get a cab back to the hotel. The weather wasn't always conducive to walking and the cab was an additional expense. Then we no longer had a car so we had to eat the hotel food (not always the best option) or walk someplace to eat dinner. Again, the weather might not be suitable for a stroll. Then there's the issue of the hotel itself. Most airport hotels are over-priced. The ones that aren't are places you don't really want to stay. (I won't go into the reasons, just trust me on this one.) And you still have to pay for a cab or a shuttle to the airport the next morning.

But we have solved the problem! We can book an afternoon flight, drive to a small town near the airport (like Windsor or Staines), get a better hotel for the price and take the rental car back just before we're due at the airport. The rental car shuttle will deliver us to the terminal and life is good!

So that's what we did! We went online, found a nice hotel - The Stanwell Hotel - booked it with a bit of help from Mark's daughter. (Mark made an attempt to book it himself but ended up booking a hotel in the Lake District - no where near the airport - and for the wrong night. - We blame the website.)

As you can see from the picture. There is an old section and a new section. Reception is in the new section. We were given a room in the old section, although we weren't told that. We took the elevator to the second floor but the room numbers weren't right. After several trips up and down the hall, I went back to reception to ask how to find the room.

"When you get off the lift, go to your left, go through the corridor and you'll see the room numbers. Lots of people get confused."

If lots of people get confused, perhaps better instructions should be given at reception. But no problem, I returned to Mark who was minding the bags to relay this set of instructions (I never want to have to tell an airline security person that my bag was left unattended.) There were some small steps in the corridor. I was starting to not like it. I really don't like steps of any kind when I'm trying to manage large bags. But we finally managed to get the bags up the stairs, find the room and open the door. And there they were - twin beds! We're just not ready for that. It was decided that I should go down to get our room changed and Mark would wait there with the bags.

I made my way back to reception.

"The room we were given has twin beds, which isn't what we want."

Instead of saying, "What would you prefer, madam?" the young lady started pounding away on her computer and announced "That is what you ordered. It says right here - twin accomodation".

I've encountered this in English hotels before so I wasn't surprised. But I didn't want to debate about what had been ordered, I just wanted her to change the room. I figured I might get what I wanted faster if I blamed the mistake on someone who wasn't there.

"Okay, this might be my stepdaughter's idea of a cruel joke. She made the booking for us, but it is not what we want. We would like a double."


"Certainly madam"

See! Now I was getting somewhere! I was given a new key - to a room in the new section where there would not be any stairs to deal with. Plus the room had a lovely balcony and the weather was perfect to sit on it and read a book after taking a stroll through the village.  (There are some photos of the village below.)

And by the way, we checked the online reservation - it only said it was for two people. The number or type of beds was never mentioned.