Glenellen Bed and Breakfast

We arrived late in the afternoon and as we were expected around that time it was nice to be greeted by name at the entrance and welcomed into the house. There was a sit down chat with the proprietor which was brief as I had good familiarity with the city and Carnival of Flowers. The location of the property was opposite the main public gardens which, even as dusk descended looked spectacular with Spring floral garden beds aplenty. Our room was at first glance an elegant and generously sized space with period furniture and furnishings. The bed was comfortable and the ensuite had a spa bath that we were encouraged to take advantage of. However, the initial appeal of the room was diminished as details became noticeable. The window seat in the large bay window was the perfect height and width for luggage but was not appropriately covered with delicate fabric used for the cushioned length. Likewise the sofa provided was seemingly unsuitably covered to place luggage on. There was no considerate option for luggage except the floor in the walk zone, which was annoying. The toilet flush button was half broken and pressing the button hurt my hand. The shower rose was modern but unless it was set to the ‘cut your flesh’ water stream it sprayed out beyond the screen and over the bath and wet everything on the floor and threatened the wood floor of the adjacent bedroom! The vanity basin had a nasty grime filled crack through it and lacked the push down plug exposing a yucky void below. The bedroom floor mat on the heritage polished floor was matted with pet hair (eww) and the attractive looking retro chair had long lost its cushion integrity and you sank to the depths if sitting in it. The communal sitting room was light filled and whilst welcoming , every surface had ‘cosy’ clutter placed on it. A communal fridge was available for storing cold drinks but it was seemingly in the private dining room of the proprietors. The property description listed breakfast and we were very keen to enjoy a country BnB that provided a breakfast with the bed - but no- we were strongly encouraged to visit local cafes, and the proprietor downplayed the in-house fare (should we still want it) and declared there would be no cooked breakfast offered. This was a well priced, perfectly located establishment in a property that still had plenty of charms of yesteryear but just enough rough edges to spoil the potential ‘must come back sometime’ stay.