The Clarence Hotel

We tried to do the right thing. We checked TripAdvisor - and Mark said everyone was just cooing about it. Very high ratings, the pictures looked very nice and it was in Windsor - a wide choice of restaurants within walking distance and just a short jaunt to Heathrow the next morning.

But we made one mistake. We used LateRooms.com to book the room. NEVER AGAIN!! I don't care who works there! This is the third time we've booked a room only to be informed when we got there that we had booked a twin room. (In case that isn't clear, that means a room with two twin beds.) The two times it happened before, after brief discussions where they told me what I had ordered and I insisted that I didn't, they were able to accommodate us with the type of room we wanted. But not this time. There was nothing available but the "small twin" room that we had "requested".

I was a bit slow to catch on, but I think I've figured it out. I think LateRooms defaults to a twin room if you say there are two people. I know!!! Why would anyone make an assumption like that? On the other hand, there's Hotels.com who show you the types of rooms available along with the prices and let you choose the type of room you want. A better idea, assuming that the hotel is in the right city. Switching you to a city with the same name but in a different county or state is the preferred mean trick of Hotels.com. But this isn't a discussion on the merits of one booking company over another. Let's get back to the hotel.

This room gave new meaning to small. That small hotel room we stayed in a year ago had nothing on this one, although I will admit that the bathroom was bigger. (You didn't have to slide under the sink to use the toilet.) Seriously, my closet is bigger than this room. And we could hear traffic on the street all night. Who would have thought that Windsor was one of those cities that "never sleep"? Once again, we had to go up multiple flights of stairs - very narrow stairs. We had to leave everything except our carry-ons locked up in the manager's office overnight. Number 1 - we couldn't manage to get them up the stairs and Number 2 - even if we could, they would have taken up the entire room.

On the plus side - the grounds were beautiful. There was a lounge indoors and a garden out back that were both absolutely charming. The breakfast was good and the staff was as pleasant and helpful as could be. But when you arrive that late in the day, there just aren't any options but to take the room being offered - the one they said we "requested".

Maybe next time we can stay in the lounge.