Limes Country House

I can’t recommend this hotel at the moment. I suspect one of the refurbished rooms might be acceptable, but the older rooms need serious TLC. There’s no excuse for such poor cleanliness. We were shown to our room quickly, and check-in itself was painless. We had only one towel between two guests, though more were provided when we asked. The sheets and towels were clean, but the carpet clearly hadn’t been cleaned since the previous guests. There were only two electrical sockets: one held an air freshener that wasn’t working, and the other a four-way extension. One socket on the extension had a broken earth pin, making it unusable and unsafe. A light fitting was loose on the wall, though at least it didn’t work. The decor was poor but adequate. The bathroom could have been OK if it were clean. The shower area was tatty, with black mould and spiders on the ceiling, so we didn’t want to use it. The bathroom bin hadn’t been emptied, the toilet hadn’t been cleaned for some time and its seat was poorly fitted. There was black mould on the outside end wall. Our first impression was that the hotel was being refurbished. We’d missed the entrance because one of the two signs was lying on the ground and the other was overgrown and obscured. The single track driveway was about 150m long, uninspiring, needing repairs and covered in moss and tree debris. The parking area was occupied, but we managed to leave the bike in front of a pile of rubbish, mostly toilet boxes, apparently from the repairs.

The staff were friendly and helpful, and our spacious, clean room looked out over trees and greenery. The country house is set in its own grounds, and I enjoyed the approach and spotting a few rabbits in parts of the garden. The hotel does need some decorative updating. I noticed they were decorating one of the downstairs lounges while we were there. They aren’t serving breakfast currently, so I can’t comment on it.

We booked two nights, but left after one and wouldn’t stay here again or recommend it. In the first room, there was a sewage smell and a snail on the curtain. The second room was better, but the toilet was broken, the bath stained and the shower was just a rubber pipe fitted to the taps. Floors hadn’t been cleaned, and the room was generally dirty apart from the sheets and towels. I saw just one staff member and definitely no cleaners. The electrics seemed dodgy, with extension leads everywhere. We didn’t dare try the breakfast.

Kevin made us feel comfortable and welcome from the start. We arrived on a Friday evening after being at Cadwell Park, soaked through, muddy and cold. The owner greeted us with a friendly smile and took all our wet motorbike gear to the drying room. Nothing was too much trouble for him. Our room was comfortable and had everything we needed. Breakfast was excellent, with a good choice of food.