Let's start with a bit of self description: I'm a frequent business traveller, and have been for many years.
So what I seek from hotels is a low-stress, "everything works as expected" experience - the fripperies like "pretty lounge area" and "turn down service" are of ZERO interest to me!
The Chesford Grange claims 4 stars, but is a "historic", semi-rural establishment: words that should have set alarm bells ringing.
What this means is:
- many of the rooms are devoid of step-free access, and indeed some are accessed by multiple convoluted sets of stairs ... hardly suitable for the rolling luggage virtually EVERY business traveller has been using for the last couple of decades!
- the property is tagged as "air conditioned", but that doesn't apply to all rooms
- the lighting provision in my room (in an older part of the building) was, frankly, bizarre: the light switch was not by the entrance door, but in the diametrically opposite corner (difficult, to put it mildly, to find if entering for the first time - fortunately I always carry a micro-torch on my key-ring!), and NO bedside light - with this place (4*, remember) it's all or nothing :-(
- the WiFi may be free, but is flaky
In addition:
- overnight staffing is minimalistic
- my room was plagued by machinery noise and vibration from early in the morning
- the requested Alarm Call never happened
- when I complained on check-out, I was promised a phone call from the Duty Manager once they were available. Yet this never happened, even after hastening from myself.
So, in conclusion, despite its pretensions, the core business of providing somewhere comfortable to sleep is probably better served by a modern hotel from one of the mass-market budget chains .... read more