The first night we had a wonderful conversation with the two women employees while we were checking in and getting settled. She offered us a glass of wine and some snacks, showed us the self-serve espresso machine, the drink fridge, the gardens, our gorgeous top floor room. Breakfast each morning was incredibly delicious, although the second morning, the man who brought up the tray hadn't brought silverware with him and it was about a half hour late -- they were very full that night (It was Valentine's weekend).
The garden is beautiful and we spent a lot of time at the Inn with the windows open in our beautiful, though strangely laid-out room. Unless the sun was out, the room was very dark even with the lights on. The whirlpool tub was comfortable, although bits of lavender kept coming loose from the jets (which, in water, look like tiny dark bits of something you wouldn't want to share water with) so I think the herb-filled soap is probably a bad choice for these tubs. The shower didn't have a door, which meant it was actually very cold and splashed water all over the floor.
The second afternoon, my husband and I came in from exploring HMB to find a new woman at the desk -- I didn't catch her name but she was somewhat older and heavyset. She didn't great us at all, but asked, in a very condescending tone, "Can I help you?" as though we had wandered in from the street and didn't belong. I told her what room we were in and she didn't seem apologetic about her tone at all. I got the sense she didn't want to be bothered, but I was disappointed, I had been looking forward to the complimentary glass of wine at ~5pm each day but quite oppositely from the women of the previous night, she didn't offer. I felt far less comfortable enjoying the grounds that second night.
We ended up bringing our own wine (and some cheese and deli meats) to enjoy in our room for one of the afternoons -- we put this in the minifridge the night before, but the next day, the cheese and meat were warm, and inedible. The fridge was plugged in, but wasn't keeping anything cool. We were disappointed about losing our dinner that night (reservations were hard to find in HMB on valentines) and the staff member we told about it just said they'd swap it out after we left, and offered no apology.
One of the nights, another couple had some sort of fight around... 10? 11pm? and there was some yelling and door slamming. At this inn, there is no overnight staff, so I was worried about what might happen if their domestic disagreement continued or if any other patrons got caught in the fray.
There is a gorgeous walk through the cypress trees and out to the beach just steps from the Inn. We walked it twice and loved every step. We didn't ride the bikes but I wish we had -- they looked like a lot of fun.
