Guest User
January 31, 2023
We were booked into the Lawns Rooms and due to the changes took breakfast at the Feathers Hotel. During this transitional period, there appear to be some issues which I am sure will be resolved once the Lawns is refurbished in due course in order to meet its 4 star level. So, there were good points and bad points regarding our stay. Lawns Rooms is very convenient for exploring Holt, with a good sized car park at the rear - a real bonus. Breakfast at the Feathers was excellent and we also ate there on two evenings enjoying both meals, with lovely service. The restaurant was busy, which was good, as there is nothing worse than eating in an empty restaurant! The room was clean, quite spacious with a nice view of the garden and the grounds of the school opposite. Lovely fluffy towels with plenty of toilet rolls and toiletries provided. There was a coffee machine, although we did not use it. However, the water for the shower which is situated over the bath can only be controlled by the bath taps whereas for safety this should have been a thermostatic shower - so you had to move the glass screen to turn the hot tap on and then the cold. The water was dangerously hot for anyone with young children or for someone who did not understand how to use it. My husband is a retired plumber and couldn't understand how this shower could have still been in use. Following the recent changes, rather than go through the lounge/bar area to the front door, we were told that the residents entrance is now located at the rear of the building, and there is a sign up on the back door. However, we didn't feel that this gives a very good impression, as the hallway is quite grubby looking, and the area outside leading to the car park is where the dustbins are kept and you could see cigarette ends on the ground. One afternoon, on returning to the building, we were very surprised to see a young man changing the tyres on a car just outside the back door and later that evening when we went out for dinner, a girl was sat in the back seat of the car with him. The one time we did use the front entrance, there were cigarette ends outside as well. We noticed that a gardener came one day to cut the grass, so hopefully he cleared these away. Regarding the staff, we found Vicky and everyone at The Feathers very friendly and helpful. However, whilst the cleaners at The Lawns were also friendly, we did feel that some staff at the Lawns were clearly lacking in customer services skills - no response whatsoever when we handed in our keys as would be expected, and strangely, there never seemed to be a manager around to oversee the staff. So if you want 4 star treatment, the Feathers is probably the better option at present - but the Lawn Rooms is nonetheless a nice place to stay offering a nice clean room and good car park, but its just no longer 4 star.