Stumble Inn = Fawlty Towers?
January 12th, 2005 at 11:02 am by David FarrarDavid Hill writes in the Herald about his experiences at the Stumble Inn, sounding like Fawlty Towers without the humour.
I have always wondered why people so unsuited for hospitality would try and make a living from it.
The only Stumble Inn I can find in NZ is the one at 198 Mangorei Rd, New Plymouth so I presume this is the institution Mr Hill is referring to, despite the threatened legal action.
Any other good horror stories out there of so called hospitality venues?
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January 12th, 2005 at 11:38 am
I know of somone who told Asian customers to go away from their (buffet) restaurant “Because you eat too much seafood”
Vote:January 12th, 2005 at 11:38 am
The ‘arty festival’ referred to by Hill is that the WOMAD which is hosted by …..NP
Vote:January 12th, 2005 at 11:43 am
I’m sure I read that same article in the Press at least 6 months ago. Do papers sit on columns like this for ages until they get a gap to fill?
Vote:January 12th, 2005 at 11:50 am
Sad to say I cannot recommend the Wellesley in Wellington after paying $400 for a package including dinner, breakfast and a complimentary bottle of bubbly during a trip to see David Bowie in concert last year:
*The Whigette and I arrived early afternoon only to be told our room was not ready and could we come back at four?
*Having finally checked in, we relaxed in our new surroundings and put the “Do not disturb” sign on the door. This was completely ignored by the maid, who walked in as we were kissing on the bed.
*Not wanting to be rushed before the gig, we decided to go downstairs for dinner around 5.30pm. We were told that we could not do this and could we come back at 6? Having come back at 6, we waited another fifteen minutes in the lobby until they opened up the doors.
*Once seated we discovered that, since it was Valentines day there was a set menu and the only dish available was salmon. The Whigette cannot eat salmon. We inquired as to an alternative dish and was told there was a vegetarian kumara dish available. The Whigette cannot eat kumara. We inquired as to whether the chef could prepare something, ANYTHING else and were told that there were no ingredients at the chef’s disposal to do so.
*Came back from the Bowie gig and the Whigette wished to take a bath, only to find that the bathroom lights were not actually working. We were informed that they were unable to change the lights at that time of night. We were supplied with candles. (which were, admittedly, at least romantic)
*Given that the Whigette was, by this stage, starving, we ordered room service, only to be told there was no such thing at that time of night on weekends. To her credit (and feeling guitly about the lights I imagine), the Duty Manager personally prepared us sandwiches on the house.
*Having paid for a late checkout of 11am as part of our package, we got rung shortly after 10 to ask why we hadn’t checked out yet.
I deliberately chose the Wellesley because I thought it would be a bit more romantic and personal than a large chain hotel, and I was sorely disappointed.
Vote:January 12th, 2005 at 12:12 pm
Yes, Steve. I know a maitre de from a flash Auckland hotel and he described Asian diners as vacuum cleaners. The hotel used to run a real swanky silver service schmorgasboard lunch until an Asian travel agent found out about it. A group of thirty tourists would turn up and literally demolish a tonne of prawns and oysters in five minutes flat. They closed down the lunch service.
I remember some years ago having an early evening meal in a Palmerston North restaurant. The main course included two quarter slices of bread and I asked the waitress for some more bread. She rose on her toes; looked down at me and rasped in a gravelly, loud and raucous voice. “You get two pices of bread”; turned and stalked off to the kitchen.
Whig, you’d better find a real woman who eats decent tucker. If she’s this bad now, what the hell will she be like when she is eighty?
Vote:January 12th, 2005 at 12:21 pm
I recently stayed at a place in Te Anau a couple of miles out of town. Checking out, I produced my Visa card to settle the bill and the evil dwarf-like woman running the place stared at me in astonishment. ‘You can’t pay with that,’ she sneered, clearly amused by my incredible ignorance. American Express, cheque and EFTPOS were also refused, and when I protested that I didn’t have several hundred dollars cash on me she suggested that I leave my luggage in the reception while I went into town to find an ATM machine.
I console myself with the cheerful thought that it’s only a matter of time before an Inland Revenue employee checks in.
Vote:January 12th, 2005 at 12:52 pm
These people amaze me. Having dealt with the public for years I know you have to be polite and helpful. Apart from the profit the pleasant interaction with satisfied customers is well worth it. Also rude owners get hit in the pocket. Bad restaurants and accommodation get to be known. Taxi drivers, travel agents etc. will put people off.
Vote:January 12th, 2005 at 2:21 pm
David, it’ll help your trackbacks and referrals if you spell Basil and Sybil’s surname correctly – it’s *Fawlty* Towers. Do you remember the ever-changing sign out the front of the hotel? ‘Watery fowls’, ‘farty owls’ and even (unless my sleaze-obsessed memory is wrong) one memorable occurrence of ‘flowery twats’. Tee hee.
Vote:January 12th, 2005 at 2:30 pm
Hamilton. Roaches. Tooth brush. Nuff said.
Vote:January 12th, 2005 at 4:39 pm
Rosemere Backpackers, MacDonald Crescent, Wellington. That should be enough for anyone who has been there. If you haven’t been, DON’T.
Vote:January 12th, 2005 at 4:56 pm
Episode 11 was Flowery Twats http://www.fawltysite.net/Images/sign11.gif
Vote:January 12th, 2005 at 4:56 pm
I stayed at a B&B style place near Kaikohe (so probably my fault) that refused to give my partner and I replacement towels on the third day there…I believe because then someone else would have to miss out on towels.
The owner was a generally surly character who thought we were complete philistines when we asked whether there was a TV we could watch in the evening (hey, it was Kaikohe). There was, it didn’t have any reception.
Dinner was included, which was basically a large, shared meal with the other guests clearly ruing their choice of accommodation. Wine was available with dinner, provided we didn’t mind drinking $9 a bottle wine (White Cloud, that sort of thing) marked up to city restaurant prices.
Ngawha Springs is still my favourite place to sit in hot water though.
Vote:January 12th, 2005 at 5:02 pm
Oh, when I was working for Labor in the election in Australia, we got put up in a dodgy little “backpackers” which technically couldn’t call itself a backpackers anymore, it was a lodge and we had to sign a piece of paper saying we where “trialling it”.
The guy was nice enough, if a little creepy, he told us, in a manner which implied he wasn’t entirely joking “Rents $250, women are extra”
The place had a shower with no curtains, the best strategy (figured out by another volunteer after a police car pulled outside, and could look pretty much directly at where he was showering) was to run the hot water for a few minutes until the window seriously steamed up.
The bathroom had no toilet paper, and there were posters all over the place “Stop help violence in your community” with your community crossed out and replaced with “the Agean” in felt tip.
The Agean, Coogee Beach.
Vote:January 12th, 2005 at 5:36 pm
Whig, the Wellesley is a great place to stay for old world charm. Where else would you get a full sized billiard room? However it sounds as if service, like the rest of the place, has yet to meet modern standards. Great place for a wedding though.
As a former musician, I’ve stayed in some pretty scuzzie holes. One of which springs to mind is a pub in Waverley. After the gig, the main entertainment seemed to be a group of rugby players in the public bar. Certain members had grasped lengths of lighted toilet paper in their butt cracks, & had to complete a task before the flames caught up with them.
Vote:January 12th, 2005 at 6:59 pm
Before we moved to Wellington, we came down to look for a place to live. We made the mistake of staying in the Richmond (sp?) B&B in Mt. Vic. I’ve stayed in a lot of dodgy accomodation, but I’ve never before been shouted at by the host before – for the terrible crime of not locking the door after folllowing another party into the office.
That place is a dump. Don’t go there.
After three nights of that we drove up to Napier, found the most expensive place in the guidebook, and stayed there. I do recommend the County Hotel in Napier.
Vote:January 12th, 2005 at 8:15 pm
No complaints about the billiard room – I had a go – it was fabulous. And the Duty Manager was actually very good. It was just the lack of professionalism from everyone else in the place. When you are paying that sort of money you expect to have people kiss your ass and instead it kept getting kicked.
Adolf, I’m way ahead of you – still searching ;o)
Vote:January 12th, 2005 at 10:34 pm
Gryfon – thanks, corrected.
Jordan – I almost ended up as the Manager of Rosemere when I was 22. Me and a mate were offered the job. Would have been interesting.
Whig – great story. Yeah amazing how bad some of the small exclusive ones can be. Still I hope Whigette appreciate the effort.
Vote:January 13th, 2005 at 8:40 am
hey Jordy, i remember that weekend in the Rosemere well… i never thought i would stay somewhere like that in the “first” world. capped off by the stalker guy who followed me around as we were trying to leave and freaked me out so much that i hit a pole with the car (only scratched).
but apparently it has changed ownership and under gone a major overhaul, including in attitude. i’ve heard good things about it from someone quite recently.
Vote:January 13th, 2005 at 10:04 am
GT, you are right about Ngawha. As kids we used to ride bareback over the hills the three or four miles to Ngawha for a hot swim. On the way home we stopped by a creek to boil the billy and have our sandwiches. We got so drowsy after the hot springs we half dosed dosed off and our horses found their way home. Ahhhh, those were the days.
Vote:January 13th, 2005 at 10:40 am
Worst place I ever stayed was the Plane Tree backpackers in Sydney. It seemed alright, was cleanish and they said no Aussies were allowed to stay, only tourists.
Two days into the holiday there’s about 50 police in reception, stopping everyone to take statements. The manager had let two junkies in and one had overdosed.
Needless to say I switched accomodation.
Vote:January 13th, 2005 at 11:19 am
Early January (winter) in Israel. Dodgy hostel just outside the Damascus gate. Owner and duty manager have screaming fights with threats to kill each other, room damp and cold, bed damp, no bog-rolls and a screaming case of the shits in the middle of the night, thanks to street-vendor felafel (well, shwarma to be precise). US$10 a night so I probably shouldnt complain. Much preferred the place in the old city just off the via dolorosa – 600 year old building, basement bar/restuarant with cheap-as beer on the weekend, lots of nzers comments scribbled on the walls and low ceiling to remind me of home.
Vote:January 13th, 2005 at 2:33 pm
You’d be thinking of the Tabasco Tea-Room, a legendary travellers hang-out that’s run into hard times due to the intifada. I heard it closed for a couple of months last year, but apparently it’s open again.
Vote:January 13th, 2005 at 4:07 pm
Thats the one – 5 shekels for two cans of macabee on a friday night sorta deal and strange mix of religious pilgrims and backpackers. I was there three months into the current troubles. Would travel there now if I had a reason/time/money no worries…Damned pussy tourists. Ahh Jerusalem – I found the surly women behind the counter at the central bus station to be far more frightening than any threat of terrorism.
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