My name is Peter and I am the owner of Widbrook Grange. The comments that have been made about our staff and me personally are misleading , inaccurate and offensive and I would like to respond with the facts.

The person writing the comments about Widbrook Grange has never stayed at the hotel or experience the services that we offer and has only met me once. The information I gave them at that meeting was entirely consistant with what I detail below and I have not offered any facility or service that I have subsequently withdrawn.

When the lady and gentleman visited our hotel initially they were shown round and it was clearly explained to them what we could and could not offer. What we can offer in the way of facilities is determined by the size and shape of our premises and at all times our concern for the safety of our guests.

They were shown the room in which the evening function would take place and they were also shown the location of the bar. There is no bar in the particular function room thet were offered and even if we wanted to put one in we could not because of space.

The couple booked their wedding with us knowing the location of both the function room and the bar. It was only at a later date that they asked for a bar in the function room and I had to tell them that unfortunately we could not provide this. I did however try to find some solution by offering to set up a small bar in a kitchen area next to the function room.

We have completed 55 successful weddings during the last three years, the bar has never been anywhere except where it is now and we have never had a problem in serving our guests from this facility. Indeed guests enjoy getting away from noise and gathering round the bar for a chat and a drink.

The bar is staffed at all times and guests who are dining with us can obtained drinks from the bar whenever they wish, paying either by cash or credit card. This facility was explained by me to the couple

It is true to say that when we are serving the wedding feast that our waitresses are unable to take orders from the tables and deliver drinks to the tables. The reason for this is that they are fully occupied in serving food to the guests in the room. As food has to go out quickly to ensure it remains hot we would not want our wairesses to stop serving food.

As soon as the food is served we are happy to take drinks to the tables or if the guest prefers serve them from the bar. Usually as wine is provided with the meal most guests are quite happy with this without wanting extra drinks. This service was also explained to the couple.

We have never provided a temporay dance floor to be laid in the hotel and have never offered this facility. On one occasion some guests organised their own dance floor and we were happy for them to do this providing of course that the necessary guest safety precautions were taken.

We offer a function room with a floor that can be, and often is danced on and many happy guests have enjoyed using this facility. This is the facility that the couple veiwed when they booked the hotel and it was not until a later date that they started to talk about wanting a temporary dance floor.

When they asked for a floor we offered to get them the details of the company that had installed a floor for the guests who organise thre own. We said that if they wished to install a floor we would be happy for them to do so providing that they made sure that the installation was undertaken by a competent company, that the floor was safe for the guests and our staff to use and that it not damage the carpets on which it would have been laid.

One other incident worthy of mention but not in their coments was the fact that we advertise that we can accomodate a maximum of fifty guests at the wedding feast. This number was worked out with the fire service to ensure that proper aisle widths were maintained for evacuation in case of fire. Once again the safety of our guests being extreemly important. The couple booked the hotel telling us that there would be fifty guests.

At a later date they told us that there would be fiftyone guests and suggested we put a high chair with a baby in it in one of the aisles. Considering the safety of all the guests with regard to fire evacuatuion and also the baby having waitress walk past with hot food in their hands I had to say no to this request.

What I did do however is look for a way to try and sqeeze the extra person in and contacted a company from whom we could hire some narrower chairs. By using these we found that we could have just squeezed an extra person onto the top table. I OK'd this with the fire service and made this offer to the couple.

When the couple veiwed the hotel they could see and were told what we could offer and they booked the wedding on that basis. The contract which they signed clearly states the terms of payment and the loss of deposits if the wedding is cancelled. At the time of their cancellation under the terms of the contract we were entitled to keep the initial deposit plus a further 25% of the cost of the wedding.

Clearly this lady and gentleman felt that I was being unreasonable. They refer to conversations that they say they had with my staff and allege that they were told about facilities that we could offer which were different from those I had told them were possible. None of these conversations were recorded and there no correspondence relating to any of these conversations.

I did not, as they allege, admit that they had been given any wrong information as I had no evidence to support this.

All my conversations with them however were confirmed in a series of letters from me to them and in those letters I was entirely consitant with the information I gave them which was the same information that is contained in this document.

Even though we wetre entirely in our rights to retain the deposit paid and to ask for the further 25% I took the view that as we could fill the hotel on the day that was to be thier wedding and as there was some doubt, although not proven, about a conversation with a member of our staff I would without prejudice or acceptence of any obligation to do so, refund the deposit, and not ask for the 25% due. The couple told me that they had already found an alternative venue and therefore I wished them well.

I felt that I was being very considerate towards this couple and that my was a gesture of goodwill, little did I know that I would be the subject of the abusive report subsequently posted on this website

At all times we treated these potential guests with respect, and in a professional manner. I did not promise anything that we could not deliver and the information I gave to them was consitant thoughout all my conversations and corespondence with them. We did our best to accomodate the requests for changes to the facilities that they made after booking the wedding with us and finally I refunded a deposit that we had every right to keep.

As mentioned earlier in this document we have undertaken 55 very happy and successful weddings at Widbrook Grange in the last four years. We are only too pleased to supply the names and adresses of couples who have got married in our hotel and who are prepared to confirm what a wonderful wedding they have had with us. Indeed I notice that one of these very satisfied couples have posted a comment on the Trip Advisor site.

Its a great shame that the couple who posted the comments about us did not marry at Widbrook as they would have had a great day. I still wish them well despite the hurtful comments they made about me.