Hickstead Hotel - you're welcome to it! (Hickstead Hotel)

Member Name: witchwaysup

Product:	Hickstead Hotel
Date:	12/06/01 (360 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Peaceful Area, Pleasant staff - sort of, Swimming pool

Disadvantages: Not as accessible as you might be led to believe, Smokers using no smoking rooms, uncomfy seats in bar area

My first glimpse of the Hickstead Hotel was as we turned around a bend in the road leading directly to its doors.

The scenery was lovely, very green with geese and trees and space, loads of space.

I was there for a wedding, lesser mortals were situated ten minutes walk away, in the travelodge. I revelled in the knowledge that I had a room in the very hotel where the evening reception was being held, no hassle for me then!

The first hiccup was the room. As we reached it I spotted the 'no smoking' sign on the door. My friend, a non-smoker sighed as I insisted I would not be going in, as a smoking room had been booked some months before.

The receptionist merely handed me an ashtray and said it would be no problem to smoke in the room. Non-smokers beware! In this hotel a no smoking sign does not signify that a room has not been previously inhabited by a smoker. Even as a smoker I am disgusted about this.

I liked the general space of the room, it was ground floor and easily accommodated my wheelchair, although opening and shutting the door whilst in it was a bit of a challenge!

The bed showed clear signs of having been used by a smoker. A huge cigarette burn on the bedspread showed this. Okay so this was only a three star hotel, but I was not impressed by the shabby look of the bedding.

The blanket beneath the bedspread was extremely bobbly and worn. The sheets were frankly disgusting! Grey and uninviting with curious stains, I ended up sleeping in between the bedspread and the blanket, the lesser of two evils.

The Hickstead has that curious quality of eccentricity that is so english. A curious mishmash of olde worlde charm, tinges of luxury, bar furniture that looks inviting and is not in the least comfortable, staff who look smartly dressed, are courteous and pleasant, whilst at the same time showing themselves capable of gross inability to perform their tasks.

After all,
I would expect a waiter to know which way around the knives and forks should be laid on the table. Is that too much to ask? Especially considering the extortionate prices they charged for inferior food.

You may think that 19.95 for a 3-course evening meal is not extortionate, until you spot the 'extras' include the only decent looking starters costing an additional 2.95-3.95 (remember, they have already been paid for) and the desserts being so insipid that I felt there was only one item to choose from.

When you consider that a sizeable group of us attended a meal with the groom on the eve of his wedding there, consequently bumping up their income for a Friday night, you may be as disappointed as I was to hear the waiter tell us to hurry up because he wanted to go home, and shifting us out of the restaurant into the bar about 10pm. We were neither loud, or drunk or anything other than the perfect customers, but they wanted to go home and that was that.

Breakfast. I can't fault the actual breakfast served at the Hickstead. It was a veritable feast, great if you are a breakfast person, which I am not. I did however make an effort! A breakfast that is served up to 10am fits in with my lifestyle far better than most hotels offer. A wide range of cereals, honey, nuts, croissant, toast, full english breakfast, juice, coffee.

Breakfast was a decent offering and nicely served by cheerful staff. On Saturday that is, on Sunday, owing to some inconsiderate so-and-so's having a wedding reception the night before in the restaurant and not leaving until the small wee hours, the restaurant was more than a little out of sorts the next morning.

Sunday morning, I dither over whether or not to use my wheelchair to go to breakfast. I decide my sticks will do the job, after all, it is only a few small steps to breakfast. Hmmmm... something not right here, I can smell breakfast, but there is nothing but a sea of empty table
s before me.

At first I think I have arrived too late, but a quick time check shows otherwise. I go to reception and ask where I can locate breakfast. GREAT! Upstairs. This is where I have to maintain my sense of humour, I took about 20 minutes to get up the flight of stairs, bumping into a waiter en route who suggested I complain, he could see the state I was in.

Well, I made it, only to find it was self-service that morning. Great, now I had to find someone to carry over a plate of food for me. The hot plates were nearly empty but I could not wait around for reinforcements, as it hurts to stand around and I was seated a good 50 yards from the food, so I took a couple of rashers and some mushrooms and flagged down a waiter to take the plate over for me.

There was no butter at the table but no waiter around to fetch some, so I had unbuttered toast. When the manager walked into the room I caught the eye of the waiter and he sent the manager over to me.

I started to complain. The manager smokes a pipe, that much was clear. As he spoke to me I felt physically sick at the smell of stale tobacco which surrounded him. I was far from happy but dismissed him as soon as possible as I was in danger of losing my undigested unbuttered toast if I had to breathe one more lungful of his odour.

I would have my revenge, I thought, I would write up my experience for my dooyoo pals and forewarn them.

Checkout was an absolute farce.I kept looking for the cameras or Jeremy Beadle to arrive. Unfortunately this was for real. The receptionist had no idea how to check folk out and there was a queue of about 14 people waiting to make a getaway. It took almost half an hour, and then only because the odourous one had appeared to help out.

All of this ennabled me to observe the vast anomalies in pricing. Whilst my single which was really a double room had cost 55.00 GBP for B & B others were paying up to 80.00 GBP for a singl
e or a double room plus 9.50 GBP for that farcical breakfast. I am sure it was only the sheer relief of getting to the end of the queue that wore down the patrons into not complaining about this.

All I can say is if you do decide to stay in this hotel, make sure you get a room at the far more reasonable than advertised rate that I got. Anything more is just daylight robbery!

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