Friday 29 June 2012

Freebies? What do you think?

I'm writing up my last trip, which was to Suffolk. It was strange, because I often go there anyhow, but it was different with my "work" hat on. For a start, I got free stays in a hotel and in a holiday rental home and I also got a free meal out. Here's a photo of my dessert at the meal -home made blackberry and mint ice creams. It was very good.


I liked the view from my bedroom at the hotel, directly overlooking the sea. It was exhilarating in the morning to wake and see it glittering outside the window. (the sailboat is a model on the window sill) and good to have breakfast outside in the sun. In fact it almost felt like the South of France (I mean the South of France in March - the Suffolk coast's never steamy - but so beautifully clear and bright.)


And the holiday home was very near the beach, sunny, well equipped and well furnished and it had a nice little back yard where you could do a BBQ or just sit in the sun all day.


Yes, there was sunshine, a rare thing indeed this summer in England, but I was lucky to get a couple of days of it.

You'll notice I haven't given names of these places. That's because I'd like to know, would you like me to name and recommend places that I like on this blog? Some are freebies, some are not. but these all were. And I'm always in two minds about freebies.

Most of them, in fact, are worth recommending, but one or two aren't. Not that they are bad - in fact, I only remember one that gives me a bad feeling to recall. It was a holiday cottage in Cornwall, which was lovely in itself, but directly overlooked by the farmers who had converted it from an outbuilding. And the farmer's wife was AWFUL! Not only was she constantly peering out of her windows at us, disapprovingly I thought...


but she was livid when we told her the toilet paper had run out. There was only about a third of a roll when we arrived, but she made me feel really guilty, as if we had been lining our nests with toilet paper or doing kinky things with it. "I expect my guests to buy their own extra toilet paper" she said haughtily. "I'd never make any profit if I gave everyone extra rolls of toilet paper. And the same goes with extra washing up liquid!"

So we drove ten miles to the nearest shop... and didn't much want to come back.

And there are other places that have absolutely nothing wrong with them but I just don't like them because I'm awkward or ornery or generally out of sorts.

For instance, I once spent a weekend in a fancy spa literally crossing off the hours till I could leave - and I hadn't done that since boarding school! The place made me feel like cutting my throat. The treatments made me feel like a zombie, there was nowhere to walk or explore locally, just miles of huge fields (I didn't have transport) I hated the food, hated the decor, hated the ambience, and I was in a country where I don't speak the language. The other guests were paying the equivalent of £1,500/$2,300 for a weekend there, and loving it.

I didn't write anything about the place. I wasn't prepared to lie, but telling the truth really wouldn't have been fair to them.

Anyway, there were no issues with the places I stayed with in Suffolk - I loved them all. I am pleased to give them a mention by name in the article. I like to feel that I'm encouraging people who try hard to offer a good product.

But do you want me to tell YOU about them and others like them? Let me know.

44 comments:

  1. It's difficult to recommend places isn't it as what seems lovely to one person might be another's idea of hell as you discovered in the spa hotel you wrote about. I guess if you mentioned what it was that you liked and said when it was you were there since places do change hands especially in these straightened times, it would be good. It's always good to know somebody has recommended a place before making a booking. If I was going to Suffolk I'd certainly be writing to you for the address of that place you show here.

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  2. I for one would like to hear about them. Extraordinary, the lady guardian of toilet rolls, I thought. She must be on very poor margins indeed, if another toilet roll is going to wipe out her profit.

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  3. Yes, please do tell us the names of the places you enjoy. It is always different for each of us, and you not being happy in one place does not necessarily mean others won't like it, or the other way round, but it certainly is good to read the personal impression of someone else before deciding on a booking.

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  4. Yes, of course we want names. I don't trust guides and rely more and more on personal recommendations. I am glad that you had a lovely time in Suffolk. I laughed at your experience in the spa. Just like you, the spa week-ends make me feel like a zombie. There must be something wrong with us.

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  5. Spas have always struck me as being for zombies...but that's just my prejudice.

    Your tale of the loo roll made me laugh.
    When we had holiday cottages in France we used to leave new packs of loo rolls as a matter of course...which was heaven for one little lad who happily spent his day poking unopened rolls down all the loos while his parents snoozed in the sun...and then spent a fascinating evening 'helping' to take up all the inspection hatches to extract the fruit of his labours...

    It's interesting to know about the places you liked...I suppose the ones you didn't would have to remain clothed in anonymity.

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  6. I would like to know the names, as well. That spa experience in particular sounded terrible. Do you think it was kind of like The Emperor with No Clothes? They were all paying so much no one wanted to admit how bad it was?

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  7. seriously i need to know where the toilet paper lady is...so i can avoid that place...seriously, buy my own TP....lol....that desert looks amazing...they spent time on presentation which is a high mark for me....cool...

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  8. I don't know if I'd ever get to England but will give my thought about your question anyway. Seems to me that if they (or whomever) gives you a free stay at their place it's because they want their name in a review. Plus, I think if there was something wrong, like the farmer's wife, you need to in that how are they going to know that the reason there isn't repeat customers might be do to what you wrote about. Just telling about it without any names may not be enough because they might see that you are writing about them.

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  9. People always appreciate recommendations when going on holiday. After saving up our hard earned money and using our precious days off, it is so disappointing to go someplace that is not up to expectations. Having experienced some "not what was in the brochure" vacations, I am very careful now before booking anything.

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  10. I'm suspicious of TripAdvisor, having seen how easy it is for for businesses to be ruined by malicious comment, but named comment from someone you feel you know and trust is valuable. And I do feel that I know you!

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  11. I think sharing names of places you enjoy would be nice. I think an honest critique is always appreciated when back up with reasons. I do love to go to spas, but I am pretty particular. I want a place to relax for the day and quiet ambiance. Bonnie

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  12. I echo ‘Relatively Retiring’! It always amazes me that people running businesses can be so unwelcoming - don’t they want you to return?

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  13. I will be happy to read about them, yet I do not think I will be making a trip there. What if it were a place I have been, and I'd say....see, I'm not a lone in this. hahahahahh

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  14. i have to have extra toilet paper---man that ice-cream sounds delicious!!

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  15. I'm always down with Freebies. As long as they don't cost too much. ;-)
    Did you know there is a Suffolk, Virginia? Not much there except peanuts, a swamp, and a water tower.

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  16. Yes please! I'd love to hear your recommendations!

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  17. Please do name them. When we travel to England we always rent a cottage so it'd be nice to hear about some, not just look at pictures online.

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  18. Hi! Yes, I would love to know the name of the places you like. I think everyone knows each of us can have a different experience but knowing someone has already been there and liked is very interesting when you are preparing holidays :)

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  19. Your ice cream looks fo beautiful and tasty. I adore the view out your window!

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  20. I would see a problem with names being mentioned. If Hotel X is bad they may attempt to sue. While this may be unlikely if it really is grotty comments must be made carefully as you know, even on blogs. Possibly rather than recommending after a visit mentioning a place 'in passing' while commenting on another may be a way round the lawyer. Personal opinion is possibly different from a 'hired hand.'
    The view from the window is great! I want one like that!

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  21. Hi, Jenny! We`d love to hear more about places to go! It will be great! Lovely view and yummy ice-cream.
    Have a lovely weekend
    love
    Natasha

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  22. Anecdotes that the holidays could go as a bit of paper, :)). I once recommended a hotel and it was a disaster, the walls were of pure paper and it seemed that all the hotel was in my room, five days were horrible bad food, a small pool where we had to queue for swimming and many more things I said nothing. A happy weekend to you.

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  23. This reminds me of years ago, when I used to review professional books for social care journals. I was sent a truly terrible book, written by someone who had been highly respected in his time, but this was a stream of consciousness that made little sense and had some highly dubious comments (such as, 'the function of the handicapped is to teach us compassion' - yes, this was published, by a respectable publishing house, and an editor didn't have the wit to think maybe we've moved on since the 1890s!). I rang the journal, explained my problem, and they agreed that they simply wouldn't review the book as they had a good relationship with the publishers.

    So sometimes maybe it's right to say nothing.

    And what do I want to read about - the little things that you notice when you're travelling, which beaches smell of seaweed, the waiter at the Italian restaurant who is actually from Croatia ... I'm sure you've a few tales like that.

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  24. To consider: are there laws and rules about such things where you live? In the US, you have to give disclaimers when reviewing if you received the item, or stay, or meal, for free to try out.

    Recommending places you've liked, whether you've paid to stay or not, might help others make good decisions when traveling.

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  25. Anyone who thinks that toilet roll is in free supply at holiday homes clearly doesn't rent very many. We stay at two or three a year and it must be six years since we had sufficient without buying spares. I always take one with me on holiday because I know I'll need one.

    They usually supply a bottle of wine but they're too skinflint to put enough loo rolls in the bathroom!

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  26. Ha! I love the image of the disproving farmer's wife, tutting at your 'doing kinky things' with the loo roll! It is funny how sometimes the most luxurious or pricey places can leave one tearing one's hair out isn't it? (I think I'd almost rather take the farmer's wife!)

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  27. I think I would just mention the ones you recommend. No point pulling bad Karma down on your head.

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  28. You can just tell us the names of the ones you liked and skip the names of the ones you didn't like. You wouldn't have to tell me any of the names, for that matter, as I will never be able to visit any of them--LOL! ;) I loved hearing about the stingy farm wife, though, I have to admit.

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  29. Wow, people spending $2,300 over a weekend, I hoped they liked it. I hope you didn't have to pay for such torture. Your dessert looks divine!

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  30. I'm with most other comments - let us know about the places that you liked. And I see nothing wrong with saying that everything was great, except, for example, the sheets and towels felt scratchy. Then we can make up our own minds.

    LOL at the toilet paper story.

    Free meals - how nice! In my mind somehow free meals are no-calorie meals. They just don't count.

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  31. OMG, I can't believe that woman getting so mad over a little bit of toilet paper! And seriously, who carries extra toilet paper with them when they go on vacation? lol

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  32. Yes, if you liked a place, why not name it? If I plan to go there myself sometime, it's good have a few recommendations. And I agree about not naming the places you thought were awful - unless it's somewhere that's usually raved about, and then you're just putting an alternative view.

    I know that experience of being in a cottage and feeling that whatever you do or ask for is somehow frowned upon by the owners. It spoils the whole holiday, however enjoyable the rest of it.

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  33. Perhaps you could name the places you liked and leave the bad places unnamed? Loved the story of the farmer's wife!

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  34. I think spontaneously I'd hesitate more about naming a hotel/restaurant where I had a bad experience than one that I felt I could wholeheartedly recommend. But I also think it has to do with the purpose for which one is writing, whether to consider the mentioning of names important or not.

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  35. I think it's impossible to recommend anything, I feel the same when I write reviews on music, because what I love the next person might hate, so it's really hard, but there is factual information you can say about a place or music for that matter, that isn't down to personal taste.

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  36. I would definitely appreciate your recommendations, freebies or not. And I was astonished by the loo roll lady - I'm afraid I would class that as completely unacceptable and tell her as much!

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  37. I'd be happy to have comments about the places you visit; for instance, a holiday cottage right on the beach would be of interest to me, and surely, many others. Hotel recommendations are also good, UK hotels are getting better but you can still not be certain that the one you choose has seen the light of modern manners, much like your farmer's wife.

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  38. Oh Jenny, (chuckle) the holiday cottage in Cornwall!! What a dreadful woman she was. A book perhaps? "The Whacky & The Wonderful" :)

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  39. Even tho I probably won't be visiting the area I think it is fine to mention where you stay by name and if it was a free stay just say so. I agree that negative reports could possibly come back to haunt you so as my Grandmother always said "if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all" Or just don't name the bad places.

    Darla

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  40. I think maybe you could mention them when people ask for it in comments or something. I usually never give out names of hotels, resorts unless anyone asks (for the record, no one has)

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  41. Yes, yes, yes. 90% of the places I go are down to recommendations from other bloggers and I would definitely like to know what you recommend or not. On a personal level, I tend to just let my readers know if something I'm recommended was provided to me free of charge.

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  42. The toilet paper stint cracks me up! I guess you always have to BYO! Lucky you on the freebies. Those are always great. I used to work for a company who was always giving out freebies. It was sooo worth the work for those :) The dessert looks wonderful and tasty.
    Ashley

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  43. I would think one of the minimal amenities would be toilet paper. Amazing that someone would expect you to buy your own.

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  44. It's a dilemma is it not? I'm with the publish brigade but that's because I 'know' you and trust your judgement and trust you to be fair and objective. I also know people who are basically remunerated to say positive things (not just about holidays) and that's when it all becomes a minefield.

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