Brookside Villa B&B — Hotel in Great Britain

It has taken me a couple of days to write this review as I had to sit back and really assess my experience before I wrote about it. But I think it’s important to speak about this particular experience, so that hopefully something can be learned from it. ||I am a proud First Nations Canadian woman who has traveled around the world breathing in the beauty of whatever country I’m in and to take in whatever it has to offer. I decided some time ago that I’d love to hike the beautiful Hadrians Wall which is a coast to coast walk across England…taking about 9 days. I was joined by my two very good English friends who also love walking and taking in the beauty of their own country. ||It was Day 6 of our walk (Tues April 29th), when we arrived around 3:30 to Brookside Villa in Gilsland, owned and run by a lady named Denise. It had been a rather long and arduous day…..14 miles….7ish hours of outstanding but rather difficult walking. Steep climbs and long downhills. Quite a lot for our 67-year old bodies….Sarah with her blisters and me with my arthritic hips. And on top of that, although unusual in the north of England to have this kind of weather, we had glorious, albeit hot, 22°c weather shine down on us for the entire walk. When we finally arrived at this beautiful villa with its cute little garden and burst of colour from the gorgeous flowers, we were excited. But tired and looking to get our boots off, shower, find some refreshment and finally lay down for a few hours before dinner. ||Denise greeted us. There was quite a lot of instruction when we came through the door. But nothing that we hadn’t really gone through before. Boots off and hung at door. She showed us the front room with its well stocked refreshment area (beers, wines, teas, coffee etc) all to be taken on an Honesty basis….perfect. We were given instruction on ordering breakfast, ordering packed lunches, how to get a hold of her, timings etc etc. the usual. A clipboard of all these things was handed to us. ||I must have been tired as I didn’t quite hear the bit about ordering our next morning breakfast….. and tried a couple of times to ask her about it but she ignored me. When she finally decided to answer me, it was with slightly condescending words of ‘you clearly didn’t listen… I usually get people to their rooms before they start asking me questions’. At first I thought I must be really tired here and so I didn’t say anything. However, when my friend Sarah and I got to the room (we were sharing the twin) we did comment on how ‘off’ she was. But we let it slide. ||Of course the first thing we wanted was a shower and hair wash….so we went on a hunt for the hair dryer. We looked everywhere… in drawers, in the bathroom etc but to no avail. So I went downstairs to find Denise to ask for one. You have to ring a doorbell to her side of the house, which I did, and waited. When she appeared I asked her if we could have a hair dryer….to which she said there was one in the room. I did say we both had looked but couldn’t find it….but before I could say… if you tell me where I’ll look again…she pushed past me, stormed up the stairs to our room, reached behind a plastic sleeve nailed on the wall that had some other instruction papers in it and hidden behind that was the dryer. A place we would not have expected it to be. She immediately slammed it down on the counter, glared at me, didn’t say a word and left the room. Sarah and I were now quite perplexed as to what we could possibly have done wrong. But we carried on. ||After showers, we were ready to relax on the bed, with a drink. Sarah had tea. Me…I wanted something cold, so made my way down to the front room and the refreshment bar. I took a cola from the fridge. And looked for some ice. There was an ice bucket but no ice! I hesitated to ring for her again after the previous incident but did ring the bell once more. When she answered I mentioned no ice, to which she snatched the ice bucket out of my hand and disappeared. When she re-appeared with the ice bucket she stormed past me into the front room and slammed it down on the counter. And again did not speak one word to me. ||Now……I’m not really sure why this attitude was happening to us….to me particularly! But it was a shame. The villa is lovely. Comfy beds, nice breakfast. Lovely garden. There is so much going for it. But I cannot give this place the 5* rating that many people have given it. In fact I would never stay here again!! ||You just need to read other reviews to see that people love their stays here. But occasionally you will see a not-so-great review which is in line with what I’m saying. You will also see a reply from Denise making many excuses for whatever discrepancies were mentioned. But at no point has there been an apology. And I’m sure I will get the same for mine. ||In this world where so many upsetting things are happening, wars, disputes, sickness, hate…… it was lovely being here in Northumberland enjoying the beauty it has to offer. To meet so many wonderful friendly northerners along the way. In fact up to this point it has been idyllic. But to be confronted by this lady and her clear issues with me (us) it has left a rather sour taste. I really hope she takes this on board. But I guess her reply to this will...

Let me start by saying that this place is lovely. Nice rooms. Good breakfast. However the owner either took a dislike to me or can be like this occasionally. Our party of 6 arrived after quite a tiring but enjoyable walk. We were immediately greeted by a barrage of instructions and questions re rooms and breakfast. Woe betide you if you didn’t immediately inform the lady of your breakfast requirements! That aside we settled into our respective rooms showered and went out to eat. Arrived back at a reasonable hour and retired to bed. The next morning we were eating breakfast as a group and chatting away . Someone in our group said something amusing and I laughed . I have a loud laugh. Then I heard and saw via in a convenient mirror, the lady mocking my laugh and the man (who I couldn’t see, possibly her husband ) said “chill” to her. I found this really insulting. Especially as I am older enjoying a walk that I had looked forward to. It was quite upsetting. Then as we were leaving after putting our boots on she came outside to ask who was in a particular room and they couldn’t find the key. I was in this room and said I had left it in the room. So I took off my boots and went to go inside as she should upstairs to the person cleaning the room “ she’s coming up” which I also thought was weird . As I got halfway (the room was at the top of the house) the person cleaning the room showed me that he had the key so I came back down and had to put my boots on again. While I was doing this the woman was telling me that the keys cost her £25 . Did I need to know that as it was there all along? I’m not sure this woman should be running a B&B as she was not very friendly. We wrote to her privately but she made up excuses for her behaviour. I’m sure she will do the...

I was part of a group of six walking the Hadrian’s Wall Path, and unfortunately, our experience at this B&B was soured by the extremely rude behaviour of the host, Denise. ||||At breakfast, she openly mocked one of our group by mimicking her laugh in front of everyone - something that felt mean-spirited and deeply uncomfortable. Then, as we were leaving, she began shouting from the garden that she couldn’t find one of the keys. One of the group had to remove her walking boots and return inside, only to be met with more shouting up the stairs to her husband: “She’s coming up!” - as if she’d done something wrong. The key was exactly where it should have been. ||||This kind of behaviour felt unnecessary and hostile. We were polite, respectful guests just trying to enjoy our walk - a journey that had personal significance and had been long-anticipated. It’s disappointing to be treated like this, and after reading other reviews, it seems we’re not the only ones who’ve felt this way. ||||Sadly, this stay was a low point in an otherwise...