Remember the Christian couple who run a bed and breakfast in Cornwall and refused accommodation to a gay couple because their religion? They’re going out of business, but not because everything fell apart after they lost their case – no, it’s because their b&b is shit. It sounds like Fawlty Towers except dirtier and with extra added piety. Barry Duke at the Freethinker gives us the insalubrious details.
One Christian reviewer on Trip Advisor had this to say of Peter and Hazelmary Bull’s Chymorvah Hotel:
Awful! Simply Awful.
I am Christian but that’s not the reason I went there. But I felt the place had a terrible atmosphere. I am vegetarian and there was a very limited menu. I felt like I committed a crime when I mentioned I was vegetarian. The look I received from woman could kill you. The room was cramped, not particularly clean and smelled strange, it was also cold and damp.
I really don’t like the thought of religion being forced down my throat whilst on holiday/taking a short break. I wanted to enjoy my time but I felt like I was a burden to this hotel not a guest.
It’s a real shame because it could be a lot better if the rooms were cleaner/up to date and fresh and the people running the hotel more hospitable.
That’s a real trifecta – the hotel is cold, dirty, smelly, and damp, plus the people running it are grumpy, plus you get religion forced down your throat. Anything else? Broken glass in the muesli? A rabid pet Corgi?
There are some very enthusiastic reviews on Trip Advisor too, but there’s also this one:
We were particularly disappointed with this hotel – although the owners went to very considerable lengths indeed to attempt to persuade us to leave a favorable comment with Tripadvisor. Apparently numerous people who stayed earlier were dissatisfied and made their thoughts known and there appeared to be a genuine failure to comprehend most things in this small hotel are simply substandard. Unfortunately the whole establishment is quite old, shabby,‘tired’ and most disappointing of all it’s not particularly clean anywhere. The bathroom in our bedroom was probably at least thirty years old and everywhere looked as though it needed a through deep clean – we have the photos to prove this too! Numerous fire doors are propped open most of the time and I have serious doubts if the elderly owners are actually aware of the simple fact it’s now illegal not to be fully compliant with mandatory fire regulations applied to Hotels and guest Houses throughout England – we actually felt quite unsafe. The poultry and pet animals kept on the premises were also in need of attention and cleaning and animal odours seemed to permeate everywhere. The food served was of low quality and after the second day we even had breakfasts elsewhere. Unfortunately, the elderly owners are some sort of fundamentalist evangelical Christians, and although this normally would not be a problem one does not want to read numerous wholly inappropriate religious texts than are crudely and inaccurately reproduced everywhere. Without doubt this is the worst small hotel or guest house that I have ever had the misfortune to visit and would advise any discerning visitor to totally avoid.
- Stayed June 2013, travelled as a couple
It’s pretty hilarious to think of cats and dogs and chickens running around all over the hotel, crapping on the religious magazines and pecking at the furniture.
Cold, smelly, dirty, food poor, not in compliance with safety standards, livestock running around the property, it just does not seem to be a place I’d want to stay.
Sounds like a case of Dunning-Kruger: no idea what’s required to make guests feel comfortable, whether it’s freedom from proselytizing, decent food, or basic hygiene.
I almost wish someone would open a clearly atheist B&B next door with everything up-to-date, a full menu including a full vegan menu, comfortable clean rooms and halls, not a single peace of religious propaganda, and friendly hosts who respect everyone whatever their sexuality, gender, religion, race, and so on.
Just by being nice, it’d be a hell of a satisfying middle finger to the evangelical establishment.
& wifi
This is really why I thought it was wrong to force the couple to accept gay guests, it was obvious that a business run the way they were running it would keel over and die soon enough anyway. A much louder message that than any amount of legislation.
Unfortunately there are an awful lot of crap B&Bs in the UK (and perhaps beyond). We stayed in one where the owner would not let my aunt have the room next to my Gran because he only puts men in that room (his garbled explanation for this involved the toilet, which was possibly unsuitable for tampons). He seemed very hostile to us generally and at one point said he we must all be Tories, being from “down south”. I had to tell him it was a good thing my Gran wasn’t in the room when he said it. There was so little included in the “full” English breakfast that I wished I had got my mother to order one too just so I could have both. Incidentally, we were there for a family funeral.
I recommend those planning to stay in B&Bs check out review sites before booking.
That’s interesting. I stayed in a B&B in Nebraska that was actually a former convent, now run by the ladies of the local Catholic church as a B&B. The priest actually joined us for breakfast. No one talked religion. If those folks could recognize the inappropriateness of assuming everyone shared your delusions (since most priests and church ladies do assume that), this couple seems to be behind the curve.
In spite of the crucifixes on the walls at the Catholic B&B, I felt totally comfortable and welcome the whole time. See, it’s easy – all you have to do is keep the place clean, fix a breakfast appropriate for your guests, and don’t talk religion all the time.