After a good nights sleep it was time to sample the hotel breakfast. In all sorts of ways, it was a vast improvement on the offering during our recent stay in a Cotswold’s hotel. There were several choices of cooked items and a continental option. I chose the continental option and was served with granola, fruit compote, yoghurt, fresh fruit and mini pastries (freshly baked), perfectly presented on a plate.
We had booked an early time slot in the Pump Room so after breakfast we set off at pace through The Stray (no time for photos) to make sure we got there on time. It took us a little while to find which street the Pump Room was in but we managed to arrive before it opened. Once inside we found it to be a museum rather than anything else. It wasn’t possible to sample the water due to Covid-19. Perhaps that was a blessing because I am told that the water tastes quite foul.
We spent the rest of the morning walking around the nearby Valley Gardens, ending up near the War Memorial and Bettys Tea Rooms for lunch. I chose a salmon, prawn and lemon sandwich followed by three dainty cake delights.
We walked back to the hotel so that we could pick up the car to drive to the nearby RHS garden at Harlow Carr where we had an enjoyable afternoon exploring the gardens.
Back at the hotel I was sitting and relaxing before dinner when I heard voices at the door and a comment ’someone is already in here’. I got up to find two people entering our room. They were most apologetic and beat a hasty retreat. As they left I could hear them say to each other ‘it is the room number we were given’. Clearly it was because they were able to enter with the card key they had been given. I felt sorry for them but a bit disturbed about the security breach of the mix up.
When we went for dinner we queried the episode with the hotel receptionist, who was most apologetic and said she would be raising the incident with her manager the next day. We had another enjoyable meal, in my case fish and chips, which was even larger than my meal the previous day. We arrived back at our room to find that our card key didn’t work. It had obviously been cancelled along with the other peoples’ keys. By this time the hotel reception was closed, leaving Mr C to hunt down the restaurant manager to help us with the problem. Luckily he knew a man that could fix the problem!
Harrogate’s architecture and gardens are still very attractive, even if the pump room now has a very different function.
Harrogate is a lovely place to visit
Two unforeseen episodes, which must have been very unsettling for you
The second incident was the most unsettling. Locked out of our room it was not obvious how we could call for the 24 hour service that was available!
Oh gee, the landscaping looks in good order.
Harrogate is know for its gardens