We have vacationed at the Queen Anne Inn in Chatham every summer for the past 26 years, with the…read moreexception of the Covid year. Our stays were always wonderful. Unfortunately, the inn recently changed hands and is no longer the warm, lovely, welcoming place that we knew. The first bad omen came at check-in when my husband inquired about the breakfast schedule and was told, "we're no longer serving breakfast because the kitchen is under renovation, but there are plenty of places in town where you can buy it." When I responded that the inn had always served breakfast, had advertised it, and that we were expecting it, the receptionist replied that the new owners had taken this amenity off the official website, and management was WORKING ON getting it removed from all other booking websites. Never were the words, "sorry" or "reimburse" uttered.
When we arrived at our room in the carriage house, we found a dark, dingy, shabby room. Two of the three ceiling lights were out, making it impossible to read in the room. Moreover, there was no telephone to reach the front desk in the main inn, no instructions on how to use the TV, so we could not figure out how to get it to keep a signal, and absolutely no amenities that one would expect in a room that cost $2047.79 for three nights - not even a bottle of water. On top of that, we had to walk over bird feces covering the steps into our room, and the carpet was disgustingly filthy looking, with huge, dark stains all over it. The thought of getting up in the middle of the night barefoot and walking on such a carpet is disgusting (not to mention unhealthy, with bird feces tracked in on our shoes).
When my husband took the ice bucket to the main building to get ice, the manager informed him that the ice machine was broken. Again, no word of apology. When he told her about the bird feces all over the steps, she replied,"we can't control the birds." Apparently, she never heard of using a hose and perhaps a brush. The manager's defensive, combative attitude was the last straw. When my husband expressed his frustration about all the problems with the room and her lack of interest in addressing any of our concerns, the manager told him that that if he didn't like it, he could leave. He said he might take her up on that, but he would want all his money back if we left.
Shortly thereafter, the manager showed up at our room ostensibly to demonstrate how to work the TV (and probably to show that my husband was an idiot for not knowing how to manipulate the two remote controls for an unfamiliar TV). Since the manager was in our room, I pointed out the stains all over the carpet. She claimed that it had been cleaned. When I said that I could not believe anyone would pay for such poor work, she told me that if I didn't like it, I should call the carpet cleaning company! What!!! I told her that they had obviously opened too soon and were definitely not ready to handle guests.
Fortunately, we were able to find wonderful lodging elsewhere in town and left. True to her word, the manager did refund our $2047.79.