A C.
Yelp
The house is nice to look at, is furnished well, and had a sitting room on the first floor to enjoy. Unfortunately, we were disappointed with the B&B beyond that.
We arrived in the afternoon, and the door was locked - no doorbell, no way to call anyone on a speaker, or instructions on how to gain access to the B&B. No information was provided in our e-mail confirmation prior to arrival. After knocking several times, we called the only number we had from the e-mail. Someone answered after the second call and let us in out of the cold. The unknown/lack of instructions was frustrating.
The check-in process lacked information/communication. The person checking us in told us to let him know if we needed anything, but later that evening we weren't able to find anyone in the B&B except for guests. We later found out that no staff are on property after hours, and no phone number(s) were provided to call if there was an emergency or if we needed anything. I find this unusual for a B&B, and also a potential safety concern. There were also no instructions provided for checking out.
When we first got to our room, we noticed it was cold. My husband found that the glass on one of the windows wasn't sealed within the frame, and had slid down to allow cold air in the room. He slid the glass back up so most of the winter air stayed outside. We asked if the fireplace in the room worked, and he said that it should but it turned out the battery for the igniter was bad. He offered to bring a new battery for it, and we asked him to do that. We waited until after housekeeping the next day, but he didn't replace the battery, so my husband bought a battery and put it in.
The second night in the B&B was very windy, rainy, and cold. Our room stayed relatively comfortable; however, something was leaking around the windows because we had water on the floor under the window the next morning. I advised of this to the same person we checked in with, and he said okay, and that its just an old house. There are some significant maintenance issues that need to be addressed on the Wheeler Mansion.
Breakfast was very disappointing. The majority of the food photos found online for this B&B are likely related to special events/catering. They are not representative of the breakfast provided for guests on a regular basis. Most mornings were plain scrambled eggs and sausage or bacon in electric skillets that are not plugged in, fruit, and plain yogurt. This was okay (though I expected more quality for breakfast from a B&B rated 4 stars), but the eggs and sausage or bacon were usually cold and not enough for all guests. The amount of food available was not checked on a regular basis, and we usually had to ask for a new pot of coffee when it was empty, or more food if it was gone.
The person who checked us in to the B&B provided very little information about anything, and did not make us feel as if he was available or interested in answering questions. We stopped by the "office" located towards the back of the house several times during our stay, but only found someone there around breakfast time.
On day of checkout, we came down with our luggage, went to the office, and no one was around. We had not received any instructions about check out when we arrived, so we started looking around the first floor for someone. Finally, we heard some sounds in the basement kitchen. My husband hollered down the stairs a couple of times, and someone came up.
They were nice about storing our luggage for us until we left for the airport, but of course, we had turned in our room keys, so we had to find someone to come open the front door again when we came back to pick up our luggage. I believe they have a third-party company that performs housekeeping, and that was who let us back in to the house. She walked with us from the office to the front doors (2 sets of doors), and only stood by while my husband and I dealt with our luggage and tried to open/close both sets of doors. We both felt this was odd, and were surprised that she didn't try to get any doors for us with our hands full of luggage.
