Parkmunder
My wife and I recently stayed at Malling West B&B as we had signed up for a full-day course at the nearby Nick Nairn Cookery School and this B&B is very handy for that. ||On arrival, we were given a warm welcome by Morag, the owner, who is friendly and chatty. The B&B has two guest bedrooms, one downstairs and the other upstairs. Morag took us to the upstairs room. She explained there was no television in either of the guest bedrooms due to the walls being too thick to install a TV and she thought the added benefit was not having to worry about TV noise from the other room which, presumably was directly below. The room is in the eaves and therefore has sloping ceilings. Morag showed us the shower room which was very small, also with sloping ceilings. She also told us that there was no guest lounge (despite the photos on the website appearing to show that there is. The lounge in the photos is for the ownersâ use, not guests).||||The room was very clean but we had not been there long when we realised that it was rather chilly and that neither radiator was giving out any heat. We thought perhaps the heating would come on at 6pm. It didnât. We went downstairs about 6.30pm to head for the restaurant Morag had kindly booked for us and met Phil. We explained the room was cold which he thought surprising as other people had complained it was too hot; after checking that we had turned the radiator up (we had) and that we hadnât opened a window (we hadnât) he said he would check it while we were out.||On our return, the room was less cold; one radiator was giving off some warmth despite being turned up full. The other was still cold. We probably should have spoken to Morag and Phil again that evening but we were tired so didnât. The double bed had a cosy duvet so we werenât cold during the night. ||||In the morning, one radiator came on about 8.15am but the other remained cold. By then we had already showered and dressed. As mentioned, the shower room is very small and, although neither of us is particularly tall, we did worry about banging our heads on the sloping ceilings â just something to be aware of. ||||Morag and Phil had asked us the evening before what we wanted for breakfast. As we knew we would be getting a big lunch etc at the cookery school, neither of us wanted much. My wife asked for cereal and I asked for a couple of rashers of bacon and toast. If you want a full cooked breakfast, there seems to be a very good choice from the breakfast menu. We were, though, a bit surprised when Phil brought a bowl of cornflakes through to the dining room for my wife. In B&Bs we have stayed before you are usually able to help yourself in the dining room to cereals, fruits, juices, yoghurts etc but there was nothing like that out. Phil did say that they donât do so much when there are only two people staying. When we mentioned about the lack of heat in the room again, he said that they donât put the heating on early if people are having breakfast later.||We had decided before breakfast that we did not want to stay a second night due really to the lack of comfort in the bedroom for relaxing in, the size of the shower room, and the temperature issues. Phil asked to join us at the breakfast table and we told him then that we would be leaving but that we would honour the two-night booking we had made. However, we also felt that we had had to convince Phil that the room had been cold as he did ask again if we had opened a window or not turned up the radiator.||||Morag and Phil did seem a very nice couple and certainly the majority of reviews on Trip Advisor reflect that; however, we have now read some of the more negative ones and we have to agree with the comments about the lack of âguest facilitiesâ. This may not be an issue in the Summer when the days are longer and you can spend more time outside but if you are staying at other times of the year, when it gets darker and colder earlier and everywhere in the area shuts at 5pm, then allowing guests to use the lounge (which looked lovely with an amazing view across the grounds) would make for a much more relaxing experience.||||Morag has responded to most of the reviews so she may well respond to this one too. We thought that most of the reviews, whether negative or the more positive ones, offered helpful tips and advice. We think that with very few âtweaksâ our stay would have been much nicer. Morag has referred to the toiletries in the bathroom and the hospitality tray in the bedroom; we do have to say that there was only soap and handcream in the shower room but no other toiletries and that the tray held only tea/coffee â no biscuits, so assume that this was an oversight and that these things are usually provided.