Colonial Capital Bed & Breakfast — Hotel in Williamsburg

I have never experienced anything quite like this. I confirmed our arrival time with the owner multiple times (on the phone a week ahead of time, texted the morning of, texted an hour ahead of time) and the owner completely ghosted us and no showed. We waited at the hotel for an hour trying to call every number we had for her, text, email, etc, and no communication. Everything was locked so we couldn't get in and no one would answer the door. After another hour of nothing, it was nearly 8pm on Memorial Day weekend and we didn't have a place to stay the night, so we started calling around, absolutely panicked (assuming at that point that the owner had been in an accident or something catastrophic to keep her from doing her job). Every other hotel was booked, except the Super 8, which we took so we wouldn't have to literally sleep in our car. That's when the owner finally decided to call back - briefly apologizing and saying that she forgot her phone inside her house while she was gardening. (Which makes me wonder, what was the point of letting her know our arrival time a week in advance then?) We agreed to come stay if she'd reimburse us for the Super 8 costs. At first we asked that she not charge us for the second half of our payment, but she wouldn't comply, instead volunteering to reimburse us because I think she thought it was cheaper. She then texted us the self-check in instructions not even showing up to the house (which if she didn't want to come check us in herself in the first place, she should have just automatically texted us the instructions instead of implying that it had to be in person!). The house was fine, although the wallpaper was damaged in our room, the bed was hard and the curtains falling apart, and none of the lightswitches in the room or bathroom worked. However, there were snacks and coffee available. Breakfast was at 9am, but all the points of interests around town open at 9am, so we chose to actually see the sights instead, which the owner chastised us and made us feel bad about. More than anything, when we got back, she didn't refund us for the Super 8 as she specified she would, instead crediting us the lesser amount of a free night at the B&B, and when I asked her about the difference, she then yelled at me again claiming that I had knee jerked by finding other accommodations and that it wasn't a big deal that she left us hanging until 8pm. If she had properly apologized or taken responsibility for her actions instead of trying to shift the blame onto me - when it is her literal job to show up and make sure we get into the house - this would be a different review. But as it is I would stay as far away from this place...

Ok so I'm not usually so harsh in my reviews but this one irritated me to some extent. I spoke with Kathryn (one of the owners) on numerous occasions about breakfast on Christmas morning. She informed me two days prior that there would be no breakfast at the B&B and that I had the option of either utilizing the kitchen or she would give us a complimentary breakfast at the Blue Talon Bistro. Which apparently the Co owner of the B&B owns. At first I told her we would just bring food and have breakfast in the kitchen. But then we decided it would be nice to eat out. So I called back and spoke with her on at least two more occasions about eating at the Blue Talon. She said it would be open from 7:30-10 for breakfast and we didn't need to worry about reservations because they had opened 2 additional rooms for Christmas so there should be plenty of space. So bright and early Christmas morning, 7:54 am to be exact, we walked in the freezing cold to the bistro. It was closed. There was a sign saying they would reopen on the 26th. Therefore we were cold, mislead, and hungry. Merry Christmas to us. This was unacceptable to me. Christmas is a very important occasion for me and we had planned our entire day around this. Also I have a health condition called hypoglycemia which causes me to get sick, pass out, etc, when I don't eat for long periods of time. And this lead to a bad episode for me. To be mislead and miscommunicated to about this on at least 4 different phone calls was just unbelievable to me. Then she blamed the miscommunication on me. The B&B itself was decent. Nice, well kept, but could use some updates. The wall paper is coming off the wall in the bathroom of the Potomac room, a spring sticking out of the bed cut my boyfriend, the owners were not there to greet us and unavailable in the morning, and we froze all night even though the heat setting was on high. Other than that I didn't have issues with the room. The rooms also lacked any Christmas decor which was kind of disappointing. All in all it kind of ruined my Christmas and we will not likely...

While the Potomac room/veranda was great and the location convenient (esp for William and Mary) the hostess failed some basic tests for us in customer service. It was bad enough that breakfast wasn’t supposed to start until 9 am, after the major attractions opened. What was worse was the last-minute breakfast cancellation at 7:30 am. I understand proprietors can get sick, but in those cases, there should be a backup plan. Given the crucial role that breakfast plays in a B&B (30 to 50% of the experience, IMO), there should have been an immediate offer of å substantial discount on the room. We should not have had to ask for such a thing. She declined to provide confirmation, which is not surprising, considering it was a measly $20 ($10 per person on a B&B breakfast? What does that say about the value of her product?) There wasn’t even any coffee available because the Keurig display wasn’t working and there wasn’t a note for how to work around it. These flaws are fixable, but so far I haven’t seen any evidence that would prompt me to change my mind....