Pebble is a new room for the season and has a brand-new en-suite shower room. It is marketed as a small double with a larger than normal shower enclosure.
Some regular guests book this room because of the large shower-enclosure. It is also the room that the Visit Britain Hotel Inspector stayed in when we were assessed in June this year and awarded the 4 star silver award. It meets their criteria for double room size. All our rooms are different sizes. Some have baths, some showers, some have sea-view, some ground-floor, some are to 5 star standard. We try to give as accurate as possible descriptions of the rooms on the website and many people have commented that they have found this helpful and they know what they are booking. If you want the best room it costs more than the smaller rooms. It’s the same everywhere.

Very shortly after the en-suite had been installed in the Spring, previous guests made us aware that there was a gurgling in the drainage pipes from the shower. We put drain cleaner down and used a plunger and the problem disappeared. We also called the plumber who had installed the shower to double check the system and he could not find any problems but told us to contact him again if the problem reoccurred.

The people who wrote the report below were staying three nights only in August.. On hearing that the problem had come back Lloyd did actually clear the drainage pipe as he had done earlier in the year while the guests were away for the day to ensure minimum disruption. We did say that if it continued we would have to call the plumber out but Lloyd tested it and it was working without noise when he did so. Lloyd enquired the following morning about the gurgling- following up on whether the work he had done had been successful. We were therefore dismayed to hear that the problem had not been solved and it was gurgling again. He accompanied them to the room to listen to the problem they were encountering. Like many plumbing problems there isn't always an instant fix.

At that point we tried to contact the plumber but he was unobtainable. I left messages on both his phones. It was August and I knew he was on holiday but due back imminently. So in the meantime Lloyd had another attempt at clearing the pipes, again during the guests’ absence to avoid disruption, but this time it didn't work. The hotel was full so we could not move them to another room. They could still use the facilities. There was no smell. The room was of a good standard and spotlessly clean. Their comfort in the bedroom wasn’t compromised. They still had satellite tv and use of DVD player, coffee-making facilities etc. And they could close the en-suite door to reduce the temporary gurgling noise when it occurred.

If they had wanted to move to another hotel we would have assisted them, but they did not request this and I did not perceive the problem to be of such seriousness that such an action would be justified.

We weren't aware at the time that it was such a major problem for them. Most people don’t spend a lot of time in their bedroom and temporary gurgling in the pipes would not be something they would be seeking compensation for when the rest of the facilities are very comfortable. Yes they said that they had been kept awake by the noise after his wife used the facilities in the night. They didn’t say that it was so loud that it had woken him. I assumed that he was wakened by his wife’s trip to the bathroom in the first instance. They say in their comments that they spent 20 minutes listening to the gurgling in the pipes unable to return to sleep for the whole of that 20 minutes. Some of that time would have passed before they returned to sleep anyway, regardless on noise.. They could have a) closed the en-suite door or b) waited till morning to flush the toilet.


The toilet they refer to is a range by Ideal Standard and part of their quality range of sanitary-ware called Space - which is an excellent solution in areas where there is restricted access space to the front of the toilet. - enabling the installation and comfortable use of the toilet which would not be possible with some other ranges of sanitary ware. I would not disparage this cleverly designed range - nor do I think Ideal Standard would be too happy about the writers remarks! On the contrary, I would certainly recommend the range to anyone with a shower room or bathroom at home when access to the front of the toilet is restricted. Having said, that the actual area of the en-suite is 2.5mx1.5m which isn’t tiny and many people think it is beautiful with its fitted pear wood units and contrasting marble-effect tops.

We agree that we were ineffective at solving the plumbing problem within the restricted time-frame of their stay. Although we live in a society where instant gratification of desire is presented as the norm, when it comes to plumbing problems there isn’t always an instant fix. We were first made aware of it on the second day of their stay and they were only here three nights. Yes it wan’t fixed while they were here – but it wasn't for want of trying. And that is what matters. Many people who have tried to get hold of a plumber at short notice will empathise with us on this one. The plumber did come on they day they left- having got back into the country from holiday only the day before. But the plumbing problem was not of such a magnitude that it prevented them using the facilities – it just meant that it gurgled afterwards.

It saddens me to find that having put a great deal of time and effort into our establishment - to achieve high standards and receive a silver award, that we find we are subject to the "compensation culture" that permeates much of our society. A problem such as this one is an event which is beyond our control and not due to poor maintenance, aging fittings, bad management or disregard for guests' comfort. We believe we dealt with the problem as best as we could within the time-frame of the guests' stay.

We thought apologies and our attempts to deal with the problem showed that we took the complaint seriously. They thought that our attempts to solve the problem for them by dealing with it immediately ourselves meant that we were somehow not dealing with it! They obviously thought a plumber should be immediately and instantaneously available. But we live in real-time and that was not going to happen as he was on holiday and as the installation and labour was under guarantee he was the only one we could contact. It was August – a lot of people – no doubt including other plumbers- were also on holiday! In any case how often when something breaks down are you able to get it repaired immediately? We have to book our car in to the garage when there is availability. Our computer broke down when it was 6 weeks old and Comet took 4 weeks to repair it. I have been without a washer for days, waiting on repair engineers. That is normal. To get a plumber to come out to see to a problem on the first day back from his holiday is pretty good going!

We weren't aware that they were anticipating a refund or a discount and with his wife being pregnant I wouldn't have thought a drink would have been appropriate. Where we have perceived that guests have been inconvenienced – as happened during the very wet weather the country experienced earlier this year – when one room had a leak from the roof – we did compensate our guests by not charging them for the days they were inconvenienced.


Regarding the cheese in the omelette! I really don't know what to say!! We have one of the most comprehensive menus I have ever seen in guest accommodation of our size. We are not part of an international chain of top notch hotels which have numerous chefs – one of whom may be a dedicated omelette chef.! We are a small establishment, owned and managed ourselves. That is what they chose to book into. Some people prefer smaller places to larger ones. I cook the breakfasts myself and have been complimented on numerous occasions by guests for both the range available and its quality . This is what we offer:- We have traditional smoked local kippers to order, Full English Breakfast, fried bread, a large range of cereals and muesli, yoghurt plain and fruit and organic, fresh fruit/fresh fruit salad, 3 kinds of marmalade, 2 kinds of milk, soya milk, we can get goats milk, we always stock gluten-free options, vegetarian sausages, marmite, chocolate spread , porridge etc. We do eggs boiled, fried, poached or scrambled or as omelettes. But we don't offer cheese omelettes for breakfast! Well fancy that! We don't do roast beef for breakfast either or pork chops or anything else that is really part of a dinner menu. Actually a menu is just that – it tells people what is on offer. It is a measure of a person’s character that being faced with such a cornucopia of goodies for breakfast – they request something that isn’t on offer, then complain on the internet that they didn’t get it! Incidentally, what the writer didn’t mention is that he was offered a mushroom omelette as I had mushrooms available – being a usual breakfast item. It shouldn't be assumed that an item not on a menu would be instantly available in any establishment.

Lloyd and I own, run and manage Amber House ourselves. Usually our guests appreciate what we have achieved and how we run Amber House and know our intentions to run a quality establishment are genuine and if there are deficiencies in anything we will attempt to put it right. We have welcomed their encouragement and good wishes and our guest book will bear testament to that. And some have had minor problems too- that’s life- but they have not detracted from their good wishes and their enjoyment of their holiday here.