Calne Bed and Breakfast

Gwyneth and Daisy were friendly hosts when we stopped for a short stay on our way somewhere else. The room was a good size, and breakfast set us up to continue our journey. A great choice if you like a homely place to stay. Faye & Abdul

The bedding was covered in white hairs, either because it hadn’t been washed or because the dog had been on it after washing. Our friend is allergic and spent the night reacting to it. When the host heard the sneezing, she even complained that it had woken her. She’d also been dismissive when told about the allergy, asking, “Are you actually allergic or do you just not like dogs?” We booked this place through booking.com for a friend over the bank holiday. We had no room for guests ourselves, and local hotels were expensive because of the jubilee. The listing should say there’s a dog, and it should also explain that the host expects guests to follow a curfew. People need to know these conditions before paying. The lady may be lovely, and it’s fine for a host to have house rules or a pet, but the expectations need to be clear in the description. We wouldn’t book this for our friends again, and would rather pay more for an actual hotel. This seems better suited to Airbnb.

Gwyneth, the landlady, is friendly and helpful, and her dog is extremely well behaved. Breakfast was very good, especially the local eggs with orange yolks, unlike the pale yellow supermarket ones. The rooms have tea and coffee, plus fresh milk instead of UHT. Everything was clean, parking was easy, and Tesco Extra is only a 10-minute walk away. In my view, a very good place to stay.

The owner was great fun to chat with, and the room was much more spacious and comfortable than the plain exterior suggests. It was quiet, with no traffic noise, and had a comfy bed, excellent shower, free WiFi and a fridge for keeping fresh milk cold. Breakfast was fully organic, generous, and absolutely delicious.