Now it is our turn to be very disappointed.
Why were our former guests so unfortunate to pick a room which obviously did not suit their needs and preferences?
I am sorry,here are some insinuations and pretentions,which we cannot acept:
In contrast to what our guests implicitly try to make believe,their room was not "assigned"to them!
They deliberately choose it - in all leisure- when they were at home,most probably because it was the cheapest one.Nobody told them to take this room.Nobody "assiged" it to them.It was their explicit choice!
This makes a difference of a whole world.
We have different rooms of different standards,which are, of course, priced accordingly ( from the gorgeous room 5,at € 260 to the more modest rooms 3 and A,at about € 100.-,which,by the way,are also much better than the common standard).
In sharp contrast to most other hotels,all (!) of our guests can and should enjoy a very special and important service:
Under the well- known motto:
"See what you get,get what you see",
on the home page of our website,all potential guests are invited and strongly encouraged - yes! -sometimes even nearly pressed ( !) to choose EXCLUSIVELY the rooms which best suits their needs and preferences and which they love,and absolutely no others - or they should look for another hotel!
We provide the basis for this all important choice by numerous photos,which show nearly all the details of every room (not only of the most gorgeous ones) to such an extent that people are already familiar with the room ,which they have chosen,when they open the door for the first time. A - disappointing - surprise shouldn’t possible!
This unique reservation policy may seem to be strange (and indeed,it sometimes dangerously balances on the borders of masochism - I just successfully prevented a possible 10 days reservation - by writing a lot of e-mails - of potential guests,because I had a certain feeling that the rooms they had chosen were not the right ones for them). This very special policy works exellently, to guarantee an optimum of satisfaction for all of our guests (which is reflected in numerous positive reviews.<Life is Sweet at Seven Bridges>).
This instrument is the perfect and only way to prevent a - totally unnecessary - disapointment...if and when,but only IF AND WHEN, potential guests are so kind as to accept and use it sensibly.That's so easy and pleasant,because of the abundance of photos (this our guests apparently,nonetheless, missed to do:Why then did they choose the cheapest room of the hotel - on the ground floor,and not another one?Why didn't they look for another hotel,if no appropriate room was available - as it is strongly advised on our website?! Unhappy guests are definitely not part of our satisfaction).
What else can we do to prevent such a reservation?

Just some words regarding the " incriminated and discriminated " room:

Indeed:The staircase to room 3 (from the bel étage ,where the reception is ,down to the garden) in this historical canal house from 1720 is - what a surprise - narrow...Of course,that's indicated on our website.That it is supposed to be "fairly shabby" comes as a big supprise,because it just was renovated,including a new expensive red carpet.The pretented "smell of damp" could have come through the open door from the garden …after a rainfall.
It is also strange that the room - in the eyes of our guests - has "an eclectical mix of old (as opposed to antique) furniture". Room 3 - as canalside room A - is (in contrast to all the other rooms) exclusively furnished in a modern style (The only exception - since some weeks - is an authentic 19th century giltwood and gesso mirror from France,which used to be in room 8 )
There are 2 Corbusier leather chairs (well-known modern classics,which one definitely don't find in an other hotel room,at € 100 or so), a stylish German glass table,which did not come at a discount price,beautiful and very valuable curtains from Italy (which can bed found only in a good 5-star hotel),a huge marquetry mirror,created by a Dutch artisan, and last but not least, a Persian rug (on a marble floor),which is certainly not standard in a 100 Euro room in Amsterdam.
…I nearly forgot the modest "young" English pine wood cupboard.Maybe our guests considered it to be old (although it doesn't look like that) ,because they insinuated,as if we would pretend that it was “antique“.Quite a:" sophisticated" argumentation!
Finally the naked truth:
Why did we put all these inexpected and unusual items in a garden room,at a such a reasonable price?
Indeed! To compensate the very small (Helas,it can't be smaller) bathroom with the shower and toilet.That it is that small is - of ourse - indicated on our website,a fact that even our critical guests couldn't hinder to concede...Indeed,they were right in writing that the paint sometimes peeled.That miserable and shocking fact was due to our unfortunate failure to use the appropriate paint (not because it was old!),which did not stand the test of the hot action in this miniscule cabin,which - quite understandably!- sat free some deplorable claustrophobic feelings with the lady,so that she "couldn't bring herself to even use it".(The little rest of our appreciated guests was courageous enough to jump into the defying adventure...).Indeed, an unpleasant and unexceptable situation. I could blame our appreciated English cleaning lady for not having told me in time about the peeling paint,but ,of course, it is my responsibility.Mea culpa.
On the otherhand,we are even more sorry that our guests couldn’t bring themselves to (simply!) tell us,frank and free,that they made a terrible mistake in picking the wrong room. We possibly could have ended this misery by proposing our guests another room (if available) or letting them choose to look for another hotel.

Now that - nearly - all is said,there still remains one big mystery:
We really don’t understand why this secret of the inappropriate room was revealed to the public only after nearly one year.Brave new - internet - word?
By the way,other guests have a more differentiated opinion about garden room 3.Please,kindly see a new review from January 4, 2008 from Orlando,USA: "Great B&B" on this site .I hope our former guests were not irritated by this friendly review…
One English gentleman, who since years has been coming (frequently) to us, always explicitely asks for this discriminated room.The same is true for a very distinguished gentleman, in his seventies, from France.They,and many others,must be totally wrong,because they are not disappointed of garden room 3.
Conclusion:
Tastes differ.
Therefore - in all fairness - guests should choose only the room,which suits best their needs and preferences (and no other one!) to prevent a ( totally unnessary!) mutual disappointment.

Günter Glaner
manager