Weekend away

Well, it has been and gone – the Whangarei Mind, Body, Spirit event. I sold another 16 books so was happy with that. I wasn’t quite as busy with treatments as last time, but I did cover my stall costs. I had lots of returning people, ones who had read my books and wanted to talk about different aspects of it or another of the treatments they had had last time. I had wondered before the event if there would be any buyers, thinking perhaps the readers amongst them would have already bought the books, so it was wonderful to have the sales I did have.

My focus though on today’s blog is the accommodation we stayed at. It was a bright, sunny, spacious unit, just as advertised, but. I hadn’t read the reviews and I am not sure why I didn’t. I think the description was what caught my eye and it seemed so nice that I didn’t even think of reading what people had written before me. The small private road up to the unit, past about half a dozen houses, was a nightmare. We were warned about that in an email, 20 minutes before we arrived but the gouging was next level. With Stephens low-to-the-ground vehicle he had to be extremely careful navigating the craters, and backing back down the driveway, we seemed to hit a massive hole each time we slid onto the road.

We had arrived after a long day of travelling and being in town. The first thing I did was head to the toilet only to find, on completion, that there was no toilet paper. I sent Stephen on a hunt, firstly through the cupboards and then to our car, when none was forthcoming. The lady in charge of the unit arrived shortly after and I pointed out that there was no toilet paper. ‘’I thought there was a roll in the cupboard,’’ she said, along with ‘’no worries’’ repeated several times, which I couldn’t quite understand, due to her Irish accent. Pardon, I queried, then turned to Stephen when I still couldn’t get it. ‘’Don’t you speak English,’’ she snapped.

‘‘I am sorry, I am just a little deaf,’’ I replied. Two toilet rolls were bought along soon after but then we noticed there was no toilet roll holder. And that’s when the noticing began. Whilst there was hand sanitiser in the basin, there was no soap or shower gel for the shower, no soap holder for our own soap, no facecloths or hand towels. There were two very small worn towels and only one small towel rail, only big enough for one towel. And there was nowhere to hang the clothes while having a shower.

In the bedroom, there was only one bedside table and one lamp, which was on Stephen’s side. I dislocated my toe going to the toilet the first night because I didn’t see the leg of the single bed poking out. In the kitchen, there was no sugar, though coffee and a few tea bags were provided. A small 300ml bottle of milk was in the fridge, but this wasn’t full, only providing enough milk for two cups of tea. Cuttlery was sparse and non-matching. There was only one teaspoon.

This was actually a really nice spacious unit, providing all the other extras like wi-fi and tv so it was disappointing that these basics were missing. It began to feel like we were staying at Fawlty Towers each time we discovered another missing item.

As I mentioned, I hadn’t read the reviews, but I already knew what I was going to write in mine. Then I did. And there were exactly the same things I had mentioned, all mentioned before, some of these a year ago. How expensive would it be to put a toilet roll holder in and a soap holder in the shower? Or to have some new towels and facecloths? And sugar in a small container? It appears from the comments, that the male owner was very nice, but the woman often rude. We didn’t meet the man.

I read some of the hosts’ comments too and it seems they don’t feel they need to provide soap or some of these other things, but honestly, for a few dollars, these basics would change the experience into a top-notch one. One family was accused of being trolls by this woman, who warned other moteliers not to accept them as guests. Another family turned up and was not permitted to stay, even though they had paid their money. They were still awaiting a refund.

I don’t think we are all being Karens. As I said, I hadn’t read the reviews when I had already formulated my own. I didn’t mention the lack of toilet paper as this was supplied soon after, but the ‘’no worries’’ reply did seem inappropriate. It was a big worry, sitting there, wondering how I was going to dry myself. Thank heavens for long flowing dresses.