Swanage Day 5 - The return

After a little discussion, we decided to make a quick get away, so we arrived for breakfast at 8am sharp.  There was no-one to seat us, so we found our own table.  The restaurant soon filled up.  Unlike the previous days when we were not 'on the clock' the service was slow and intermittent.  The breakfast did eventually come.  I'm glad I decided to have a regular breakfast, I really fancied the kipper, but time was of the essence, and we were unprepared for additional delays.  After breakfast, we finished loading the car and checked out.   That process too could be streamlined.  The bill is presented by day, so our room, meals and drinks for each day are listed, but the booking receipt has a single B&B total for the four days.  We needed to confirm the total was correct.

Finally, we were off.  Saturday traffic all the way home, nothing serious, just slow pretty much all the way - except for a short section of the M3 and the last part of the M25.  Still, we made it and managed to do what we wanted with the rest of the day.

Comments on the Grand Hotel, Swanage.
I understand that it is a Victorian Hotel, that is why I booked it.  A chance to get a room with high ceilings and the sense of space that gives.  A chance to get the great views the Victorians were famous for liking.  I also accept that many changes have been made, not least the fire doors onto each floor that completely wreck the sense of open space on the landings.  Even so it is a nice place, but could be so much better.  The current owners are not paying attention to preserving and improving what they have:
The shower on the second floor is awful, boiling hot, then freezing cold - do away with the mixer taps and install electric showers so that we can get a better shower.
The chairs in the bar have seen better days (in the 1960s perhaps) - I hate sitting on chairs and falling through them - it is very uncomfortable.
Provide bigger towels - why are hotel towels always so small?
Wi-Fi should work in ALL public areas, as that is what you advertise.
Finally, the management in the restaurant could do a better job, service is poor and the manageress unwilling to apologise for mistakes.

Swanage Day 1 - The year of the swan

First I should explain the year of the swan.  It has nothing to do with gliding serenely along but paddling madly beneath.  It is simply that we have first holidayed in The Mumbles, which is on SWANsea bay, now we are in SWANage.
Definition of Swanage: an ancient tax levied against those who owned swans. Anyway, to the events of day 1.  The journey was uneventful, or perhaps I should say was amazing.  We did not get held up at all. 

 The Grand Hotel is situated on top of the cliffs about a mile outside Swanage.  It has fantastic views of the bay.  Being a Victorian edifice it is full of light and has high ceilings giving it an open airy feel.  There are downsides though.  The shower was a real disappointment, the pressure and temperature are VERY variable at time of high use.  "WiFi is available in public areas" the publicity says = WiFi is detectable and occasionally usable in the lobby.

Once we had settled into our room we walked along the beach, in front of the beach houses into town.  It was a lovely day, and I was concerned about sun burn, but I survived.  There is little going on at the theatre - just a film that neither of us are interested in.  We visited the TI (tourist information) and got some leaflets.  It looks like most of the things we are going to do are dog friendly - but we did not bring the dog.  We did meet a 7-year-old greying chocolate Labrador bitch who was very friendly. After wandering around the town we returned to the hotel, had a drink in the conservatory, and then a shower before hitting the restaurant - dress code duly applied.  The food was good, but the portions not great, although I did have to help Jo finish the apple cake. Most remarkable thing though was the service - poor.  Our starters were delivered after two couples who arrived quite a while after us, and the apology was grudging.

The bed is standard size, so my feet stick out the end.  We had a rather disturbed night, partly because of the heat and partly because the TV decided to blink its bright LEDs at 3:15am for about 5 minutes.

Breakfast is in tomorrow's report.  Now we are headed to Old Harry's rocks.