A great time, with one exception, visiting town
Published: September 27, 2009
My husband and I visited Culpeper last weekend for the 250th anniversary. It was our first time there, and we had been looking forward to it for a long time, ever since I started researching my husband’s genealogy. His mother was from Culpeper and we were able to find the graves of two sets of his great-grandparents.
We had a wonderful time in Virginia, and thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Fountain Hall. The Walkers were great hosts — just what we have come to expect from a B&B. Unfortunately, we had a bad (if brief) experience with another inn in Culpeper, the Thyme Inn, which was appalling.
Although I had made reservations with them over a month ago, when we arrived in town last Friday we found the Thyme Inn and its shops closed. When we finally tracked the owners down, we were shocked to hear them tell us that we were on our own. They were on vacation, but expected us to stay there anyway. The keys were in a lock box. They claim they left us a message, but it was on our home phone in Wisconsin, and it was made the day we arrived.
When we said we would make other arrangements because we didn’t think it appropriate to spend two days in an empty inn, they said we would have to pay anyway since we didn’t cancel in time. At no time did the owners apologize, and were in fact, rude and condescending to us. They acted as if it was no big deal. Unbelievable!
Every other place we visited in Culpeper was wonderful. Dinner at Foti’s was outstanding. My husband and I hope to come back to Culpeper next year, and we will stay again at Fountain Hall, whose owners know the meaning of hospitality.
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Reader Reactions
Spoiled bratism.
I like the fact the writer called out exactly who/what/when. Let the owners deny it if they choose.
I’m sorry you all have had such bad experiences. Most of mine have been great, but not every place has the same standards and you don’t know until you stay there.
I’d much rather stay in a B and B with a bit of History than overpriced “Inns” where the owners show disdain for most customers. I’ll never go there again.
That is totally unprofessional!! Of course Thyme knew they were going out of town and purposely called you while you were on the road. Count it a savings you didn’t have dinner there. You make reservations, he seat you in the alley for an extra $75.00 pushing alcoholic beverages down your throat and then take you in for the real $175.00 plus dinner tab. Be very careful when you deal with this restaurant. More people should tell “the facts” on this place and support the restaurants that really appreciate your money. Fotis is a great place to eat and very friendly staff. Chisauno’s is another great place. Glad you were still able to visit Culpeper and have a good time. Fight any charges Thyme bills you for!
I am rather shocked at that report too. It should NEVER happen. With “Its About Thyme” having such a good reputation with the restaurant business, this puts a bad taste in ones mouth. The visitors should have been told, at the time of making the reservations, what was going on. I am also amazed the owners decided to close at this time, when so many visitors were to be in town, and they are a show-case restaurant on Davis St. How many future customers will never return, just for that reason alone?
As to the respondents reports and complaints of other B&B visits, one must realize that these establishments are usually older homes - built before todays customers were born, in a period of time that 4 stars were unheard of. To expect that type of service, large room, King sized beds, event bath rooms in their bedroom area, will give one a big disappointment, upon arrival. That is not why one uses a Bed and Breakfast. Regular visitors to those establishments are there for the charm, and “age” of the building. Usually its “country” food, of whatever country you may be traveling. I lived in Europe for almost 10 years, and we used B&B much of the time. We got what we paid for (usually much less expensive than the local hotel), had better meals, and enjoyed the company of the owners. If one wants the Hilton, stay in them, do NOT expect Hilton bed/rooms/pools, etc. at a quarter of the price. Then again, one might as well stay home in their own bed, and eat in their own kitchen/dining area, rather than visiting a “foreign” area and pretending they have seen the “country”.
This is typical of the Thyme Inn.
We booked a self-drive tour in a European country. The booking agency said we would be issued vouchers that all we had to do was hand them to the B&B hosts wherever we stopped. What we weren’t told until just before we left was the vouchers were in a “book” that listed the B&Bs;we were allowed to stay in. We thought they were good at any. Not so. We had to pick from the book and then find that B&B in the town we planned to spend the night. One had a guy that was surly and his wife never opened her mouth when he was there. She was charming, gracious, and talkative when he wasn’t there. When we loaded up the car and was pulling around to the front to settle our account he chased us down the driveway thinking we were planning to leave without paying. At another B&B we were given a room that barely held the bed and the nightstand was a piece of plywood nailed to the wall. Two nights before we were to leave we said to he11 with this and booked into a nice hotel. It was then I decided I would never again stay in a B&B. I’m sure there are nice ones but I’ll just stick to the hotels.
I’m interested…Tell us what happened.
From experiences of a vacation several years ago we will never stay in a B&B again. It’s hotels from now on no matter what city or town we are in. And if anybody is interested I can tell you a couple of horror stories.
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