Sunday 3 February 2013

LYTHE WAITERS

We went to visit a local farm today.  They have an interesting website - it said that there is a cafe, activities for kids and it's a farm.  With animals.  Just what we wanted for the grandkids - fun, educational and food to boot.  When we arrived, it was all rather quiet.  I rang the doorbell (marked reception) which connected by telephone with a lady somewhere who told me that the cafe and restaurant had closed a year ago and that there were no activities for kids.  Hmmm, seems like you can't believe anything you read on the net.

We drove around some country lanes for a while in an effort to make the outing worthwhile.  Then, on a whim, we stopped at the Lythe Hill Hotel for afternoon tea.  I think I've mentioned this hotel before.  It's just on the edge of rural Haslemere and the main building is 16th century.  Here it is in fact:


It is of course lovely inside.  But, as lunch was in progress, we went through to the modern part at the rear, where we sat in tranquillity, reading the day's newspapers and looking out onto the garden.  And the waiters?  we allowed them to scurry around and pamper and bring us sandwiches, scones and cakes, etc, when we wanted them.  Well, I reckon that made the outing worthwhile.  And the grandkids can always watch TV.

4 comments:

  1. I hope you advised the lady on the phone that they should really update their website, so that people don't waste their time and petrol.

    The Lythe Hall Hotel looks a really nice place, so I guess that made up for it.

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    1. Yes, I did. I've also e-mailed them. I suppose people don't see their own websites, as they might other ads, and therefore they are out of mind. They may be breaking some advertising standards now, because of course Trip Adviser and a myriad of other sites have picked them up too and are advertising them as a family friendly venue. The Internet is universal but can easily get out of your control. Anyway, as you say, afternoon tea at Lythe Hill was a fine compensation.

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  2. I have had this happen in the USA and in Canada. Businesses collapse in the recession and don't have the money to continue or update the business' websites.

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    1. Yes, I hadn't thought of business collapse, Karyn. I can though understand that the costs of maintaining a website can be difficult to sustain.

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