The Hall Estate - Historic Grade I-listed Jacobean Mansion

A completely unique stay in a Jacobean mansion with expansive private grounds, yet yards from the centre of town. We happened to stay the weekend that a large event was being held in the garden, with choir, pop up champagne and pizza bars. We had free entry as in-house guests and it was a fantastic evening.

There are no staff or facilities and entry is by a series of tedious keypads. Our private bathroom was in a separate room down the hall. There’s a mini kitchen area but no sink, so you have to walk down the corridor to the bathroom to fill the kettle. The shower is a dribble. There was quite a collection of dead flies on the open windowsill. This isn’t a luxury apartment by modern standards, but it’s so unique and fascinating that we loved our stay.

Great location for walking to local restaurants and train station. Free, secure off road parking. Well located for day trips. Quiet surroundings with pleasant, private gardens - rear gate providing valuable and safe ( as local roads are very heavy with traffic and footpaths can be precarious ) shortcut into town. Architecture and ambience as advertised, providing a marginally different style of accommodation to more main stream accommodation choices. Great to have access to the historical rooms of the house to learn about the history: especially the Moulton bicycles, which I remember as being totally radical when first launched when I was a child. The welcome pack was useful for the first morning breakfast and sundry refreshments.

No real criticisms, however, we would proffer a few suggestions to ensure ongoing guest satisfaction. The check in instructions could be better as we struggled to gain access to the property ( as it is self check in) due to being unfamiliar with the technology. The issue was rapidly resolved by phoning the out of hours contact, who was very helpful - thank you. On entering the room we found a welcome card with a web address via QR that gave the requisite check in process in ample detail. This should have been included in the pre- arrival email we received that gave us the check in codes. Again, information/ clarity was absent on the crockery and glasses associated with the welcome pack in relation to housekeeping ( which we understood from Booking.com facilities list was provided on a daily basis). This resulted in attempting to contact the host by the out of hours number to discuss why we had not received a housekeeping visit and removal of the dirty items. Unfortunately, no- one answered so a voicemail was left asking for clarification. However, we did not receive any acknowledgment or response for the remaining 40+ hours of our stay. The welcome pack webpages did not provide and information on how to deal with the dirty crockery. However, whilst preparing to leave on our last morning, we discovered the necessary washing up liquid and sponge pad tucked behind the welcome pack. We duly ensured that all items were washed, dried and left ready for the next guest. This latter point provides two considerations; please ensure that guests are provided with comprehensive information ( perhaps through links to appropriate web pages where appropriate prior to arrival) to avoid any misunderstandings. Also, not responding to a query made through the stated contact channels is not an example of how to create excellent guest relations.

The wonderful setting and interior, it had a real wow factor and made our weekend break feel very indulgent.

Nothing

Quirkiness

It was quite cold