COMMENT I think that the Perth landlady could have
Bed & best behaviour
Want better B&Bs? Guests have a big part to play WORDS ALAN COCHRANE ILLUSTRATION STEPHEN DAY
by a Perth landlady. He’d turned up at her B&B shortly after midday, only to be told that he couldn’t have his room until 3pm – the time stipulated on all her literature for check-ins. He explained that all he wanted to do was
T
change his trousers as he’d been driving for quite a while and needed to look a bit smarter before he addressed a political meeting. Mine hostess was unmoved. A three o’clock check- in meant what it said so, no, he couldn’t get in until then, no matter how briefly. The honourable gentleman had to make do
with changing his breeks in a public loo – all the while cursing the shortcomings of Scottish hospitality. This is no way to treat tourists, his friends growled when they heard his tale of woe. And on the face of it, they’re right – aren’t
they? I wonder. Just how far are hoteliers and B&B owners supposed to go to make their guests feel welcome? And how much should they be expected to put up with from those guests?
FIELD
ONLINE WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? COMMENT ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE OR TWITTER AT WWW. SCOTTISHFIELD.
CO.UK
Alan Cochrane is the Daily Telegraph’s Scottish Editor
here was a minor hoo-ha recently concerning a veteran MP who thought not very highly of the way he was treated
allowed our MP friend a few minutes’ grace to smarten himself up; after all, what would it have cost her? But isn’t there a principle at stake here? A fixed check-in time allows rooms, especially in busy establishments, to be made ready after the previous guests have departed, normally after they’ve abided by the check-out time. If neither the departing nor the arriving guests stick to their allotted times, chaos ensues. I’m staying with my family in a big Glasgow
hotel soon where, again, the check-in time is 3pm. If we want to arrive early – say, at noon – we are liable for an extra charge. However, we can leave our bags and I guess if anyone wants to change we could make use of the loos. But then this is a big hotel with lots of loos and lots of space to store luggage. That’s not the case with private houses
that have been turned into B&Bs. Such estab- lishments really need strict timetables, or else the blessed tourists would never leave – with those arriving and those departing bumping into each other in the hall. And anyway, who says that the hosts should
bend over backwards to accommodate their guests? A degree of give and take is surely essen- tial in such establishments. Most offer space in someone’s home, albeit for a price – but a price that is usually relatively modest. Guests should endeavour to fit in with the natural rhythm of the house – arriving and leaving at the allotted time, eating breakfast within the specified period, and then clearing off afterwards. I know that putting up with the foibles, not
to mention rudeness, of some guests, would be too much for yours truly. One hostess I know used to take her guests a cup of tea in bed – free, gratis – by way of saying welcome, until one ungrateful wretch snarled, ‘Oh no, not tea – I want coffee.’ She got neither next day. Then there are the food faddists. Hosts are
under pressure to provide virtually every cereal under the sun and often every fruit juice, bread, jam and marmalade known to man as well. Cooked breakfasts are frequently expected to provide enough sustenance to keep a squad of navvies going all day, rather than simply a tasty bite to see guests on their way. Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure that most B&B
owners like what they’re doing and thoroughly enjoy meeting all the different people who come to stay, otherwise they wouldn’t do it. In the main I think that B&Bs are one of the
great joys of the Scottish hospitality industry but I do think their very name is wrong – it smacks too much of rushed money-grubbing. The French designation – chambres d’hôte – has a much nicer ring to it. And often there’s a wee glass of vin ordinaire to help you settle in, too.
38
WWW.SCOTTISHFIELD.CO.UK
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212 |
Page 213 |
Page 214 |
Page 215 |
Page 216 |
Page 217 |
Page 218 |
Page 219 |
Page 220 |
Page 221 |
Page 222 |
Page 223 |
Page 224 |
Page 225 |
Page 226 |
Page 227 |
Page 228 |
Page 229 |
Page 230 |
Page 231 |
Page 232 |
Page 233 |
Page 234 |
Page 235 |
Page 236 |
Page 237 |
Page 238 |
Page 239 |
Page 240 |
Page 241 |
Page 242 |
Page 243 |
Page 244 |
Page 245 |
Page 246 |
Page 247 |
Page 248 |
Page 249 |
Page 250 |
Page 251 |
Page 252 |
Page 253 |
Page 254 |
Page 255 |
Page 256 |
Page 257 |
Page 258 |
Page 259 |
Page 260 |
Page 261 |
Page 262 |
Page 263 |
Page 264 |
Page 265 |
Page 266 |
Page 267 |
Page 268 |
Page 269 |
Page 270