What is Quaint?

We've been trying to find a "regular" place to stay the night before we fly home from England. The airport hotels are exorbitantly priced and the only one with decent food is the Marriott. The place we found in Staines was nice, but the only choice for an evening meal was the hotel restaurant or a couple of down market pubs. The Clarence in Windsor offered unlimited dining choices and a great deal of charm, but the inability to take the baggage to our room wasn't a good thing. And the room was so small. So we went back to TripAdvisor to look for another option. We found a place with pretty good reviews in Eton. Just across the Thames from Windsor. A stone's throw. The reviews described it as "quaint".

What do you think of when you think of "quaint"? In England? How about something like this?

Now, I knew it wouldn't be like this because it was in the city and near the Thames. So I was thinking more on the order of this:

Old and quaint are not quite the same. At least not in my book. And then there's the issue of first impressions. I was a bit surprised to be greeted by someone with a shaved head and multiple tattoos and body piercings. (I do try hard not to judge based on appearances, but I admit it's a struggle.) We did have to climb two or three flights of stairs with our bags, but at least they were wide enough for us to get the bags up there. And in all fairness, the tatty-piercy fellow did give us a hand with them.

How's this for quaint? The floor of the room had such a slant to it that I had difficulty staying in bed. I was sure it was a 45 degree angle, but Mark insists that it was only about 7 degrees. There was a small private hallway between the bathroom and the bedroom, not uncommon in these old buildings where en-suite bathrooms have been retrofitted. But the floor of this one was a bit "spongy" in places. Pretty quaint.

To add to the quaintness, the bathroom had one of those shower curtains that clings to your body when you are wet. The bathroom was very narrow. Consequently it had a miniscule sink. It was so small that I soaked my feet while washing my face. (They were so wet I had to change socks.)

But this takes the quaintness cake! This is a picture of our "closet".

Really??? What could you possibly hang in there? Maybe doll clothes?

I think the owner's relatives must have written all those glowing "quaint" reviews. Meanwhile, we'll resume our search for a "regular" place to stay.