Rectory Farm Annexe

Rectory Farm Annexe was a lovely place to stay & the rooms were well set out. Unfortunately for us we had a less than good experience. To start with the owners never came & made themselves known to us at all. In retrospect it seems that they were trying to run it as a hands-free Air B&B. We booked it as an ordinary Farmhouse B&B through, we think, ******* or HotelsOne last December. Only later did we spot via the farm’s own website that it was only continental breakfast. However we went back, what must have been through *******, again about breakfast & received the answer that a full breakfast was available for a fee – we actually printed off that answer. So we kept the booking thinking that’s what we’d do. What we didn’t realise was that not only was there no full breakfast but it was also DIY – a few bits left in the cupboard & fridge Air B&B style. In particular there was no ordinary bread - just three slices of sourdough in a tin. So at that stage after going out for supper we went round(there was a card in the room inviting us to let them know if we needed anything else) & asked if we could have some bread & then also queried the idea of a proper breakfast for a fee. I have to say that we did not feel it was dealt with in a friendly way at all. Indeed there was a kind of arrogance about it & we were definitely wrong about the full breakfast. They never did it & how could we possibly prefer ordinary bread. We were very much put in our place. Next morning the breakfast table had hardly been cleaned with crumbs etc left & an empty mini jar of jam. The previous morning’s little bowl of rather ancient wizened fruit compote was still there for the next day after we had had a little of it first time round. Once you start looking we then noticed that the milk container was 2 days past expiry. Sad as it was a lovely place.

The annexe was homely, but a little tired in places. The owners clearly think of themselves quite highly which wasn’t reflected in their manners! We returned from a wedding and being pregnant I wasn’t drinking, unfortunately for them they’d forgotten to close their kitchen window. They had guests staying & we overheard their snobby & show off comments “can’t have been a very good wedding, their already home”, “he looked like a peaky blinder, without socks” which was incorrect. My fiancé had socks on & I don’t think a linen jacket & suede brogues are quite the peaky blinder look! Rude, judgmental & ignorant. Could barely look us in the eye in the morning & had the cheek to ask how our stay was, I replied “I think you owe us an apology” the husband admitted they did. They sent a grovelling email after we had left. To say this ruined our weekend was an understatement and we would not return or recommend this as a place to stay.