The Consort Hotel, Wymondham, Norfolk.

I have posted about this hotel before on a couple of occasions.  I have now stayed on three separate occasions, once with the previous owners and twice with the current owners.

The first time I stayed I received entry codes a couple of days before my booking.  I had a single room and I loved it, it was on the first floor and so very quiet.  The hotel did not have a full time staff, just part time for breakfast and cleaning/preparing the rooms. It wasn't a problem, the room was spotless and the breakfast fantastic.  

A year later I stayed for the second time, the hotel had now been taken over.  Reception was now covered until 10pm every day. The breakfast room was now leased out to an independent restaurant The Marrakesh and so breakfast, if booked, was served in the bar area.

On this visit, I had again booked a single room but was upgraded to a double.  There was a huge bed, two seater settee and a single chair, two tables, wardrobe and chest of drawers, a television bigger than the one in my living room, and the usual tea and coffee making facilities.  This time I was on the second floor which was even more quiet.

The third visit was definitely not the charm.

Having left the house at 10.30am I finally arrived just after 4pm, it's a long journey from home involving three trains, two tube journeys and a walk up the hill to the hotel.  The receptionist was talking to a man in the lounge so I waited until she came back to the desk.  

I asked to check in and she told me that the man who had had the room before me always leaves his case in the room and then comes back later for it, according to their website, check out is 11am, so why he is allowed to leave his case in the room until it suits him I don't know.  She said that she would check whether he had done this.

There was a young man at the reception with her and he opened up the laptop in front of him, he clicked a few buttons and brought up a picture of a room 

"This room?" he asked the receptionist, "Yes", she replied "I can't see his case, I will have to go and check".  So evidently this was a live feed which meant that THERE WERE CAMERAS IN THE BEDROOMS!!!  Is this not illegal?

This time the room I was given was on the ground floor, the wall behind my headboard was the wall of the bar lounge.

I was informed that there was a party booked into the bar but "as I always go out" it won't be a problem.  I think always go out is a bit of a stretch.  The last time I stayed here I didn't go any further than the local co-op to get sandwiches, wine and chocolate the first night, the second night I had been to a 4 year old's birthday party and was back by 8pm absolutely exhausted!

The party itself wasn't an issue to begin with, despite it being held just the other side of the wall, it was nothing really more than a murmur.  Unfortunately, my room was right by the back door and the favoured area for the smokers to stand to smoke and continue the party.

At 10.20pm the music suddenly ramped up, I am guessing the receptionist had left.  This went on until just after 11pm.

I then had nearly two hours of the hoover being bashed against the wall and heavy wooden furniture being dragged around to ready the room for breakfast.

The next night I was out at a party so I had no idea if anything had gone on.

Unfortunately for such a large town, there are only two hotels, the other one being disgusting by all accounts (I know people who have stayed there) so my options for my next visit are to stay here again, cameras and all, or pay twice the price to stay in Norwich and then have to pay for a taxi (about a 20 minute drive) after the party.

I need to think about this.

My Weekend in Wymondham, Norfolk.

Last weekend I was invited to a birthday party, as I haven't taken much annual leave this year I made a weekend of it and headed over to Norfolk on the Friday.  The journey there was uneventful, which is more than I can say about the return journey, but more about that later.

I had booked a single room at the hotel, I had stayed in the same hotel last year too and was perfectly happy in the single room that I had, but I was given a free upgrade to a double room.

I didn't do much on the Friday as it is quite a long day when I travel over, having left home at 10.30am I did not arrive at the hotel until after 4pm, so I had a walk round, got something to eat and then chocolate and wine to take back to the room.

Saturday morning I was up bright and early.  I went for a walk past the Abbey and up to the old railway station, it was a nice walk along the river and I got to see more of the town.

Lunchtime I headed off to the pub up the road, I was going to be all grown up and have a mature cheese & ham sandwich, but The Cross Keys had Fish Finger sandwiches on the menu, I haven't had one of those for years so I treated myself.

It was then time to head off to the party.  As it was a nice day I decided to walk there, it was only a mile or so.   When I was crossing the bridge over the main road I heard a noise, I looked down and there was a steam engine travelling along.

Most of the party was spent catching up with people that I had not seen for a while, but I also met some new people too, there was plenty of food and there may have been some alcohol too.

Sunday was very foggy, so again I was up and about early.  I walked back up to the Abbey to take some more photos in the fog.

These photos do not do the fog justice, it was extremely foggy.

The train from Norwich to London was very busy, luckily I had a reserved seat.  I arrived in London to find that my usual underground route to Euston from Liverpool Street was unavailable due to the Northern Line being closed between Angel and Euston so I had to plan an alternative route.

There isn't much time between the Norwich train arriving and the Coventry train leaving although it is plenty of time for my usual underground route, and in my rush I caught the tube going in the wrong direction so had to get off at the next station.  Those of you that use the London Underground will know that it is rarely a case that when you swap trains you can step off one, cross the platform and get onto another, the change always seems to require climbing up several flights of steps, walking miles round various corridors and then back down steps to the platform.

Once I arrived at the right platform I was pleased that there was a train already there, I hurried on and threw myself into a seat.

I then realised that I was the only person on it.

There was no-one else either on the train, nor on the platform.  There was no noise, not even any announcements.  The display in the carriage which tells you the station was blank.  

I am not someone who is easily scared, but I have watched my fair share of horror movies and read my fair share of horror stories, I was sitting there expecting the lights to all start flickering and going off one by one.

Suddenly there was a noise and people started to appear, phew!

I made it to Euston and my final train with about 5 minutes to spare, the rest of the journey was uneventful.

I am doing it all again in 4 weeks time, this time for a Hallowe'en party, I had best find a costume!