When I hear the words “guest house” they conjure up for me a homely place to stay and a warm welcome from a friendly and obliging host who’ll introduce me to the property, show me my room, be there for me, and serve up a tasty cooked breakfast in the morning. Debden Guest House is not like that. I wouldn’t call it a guest house. What they offer is rooms, no more, no less. There is none of the ambience one would expect of a guest house. There was no personal welcome from my host upon my arrival. Instead, a voice speaking over an intercom gave me my room number and told me that my keys were in the door and the toilet was up the stairs. And that was my stark introduction to the place. I had expected, mistakenly, that my room would have its own shower/wc so I was surprised that I had to share one with four other rooms. I had also expected breakfast to be provided. I looked in vain for a dining room and, finding none, concluded that I’d been mistaken and that there’d be no cooked breakfast in the morning. The room was warm and the bed was very comfortable. But the décor was tired, drab and dated. The wall lights didn’t work, and the ceiling light and bedside lamps alone were not bright enough for me to read by. The TV remote control didn’t work either, but the controls on the television itself enabled me to make use of it, after a fashion. If my room was drab and dated, the décor in the public area was far worse. The walls, ceilings and carpets in the hallway and up the stairs can only be described as grim, and are in dire need of a complete makeover. I shall not be staying there again.
翻譯