We arranged to stay here for two nights from the 10th to 12th September through Booking.com. Here is the review I wrote on their site: "My wife and I stayed here during the course of an organized tour of the South West. Unfortunately my wife fell ill the day after we checked in and she had to stay in our room all that day, but she insisted I go on the tour. I asked staff if I could take my wife some bread or toast in the room. The staff was told by Elle to confirm that they did not allow any food in the rooms due to the smell. There was no offer to give my wife a snack, nothing. Luckily she had a can of Pringles to keep her going. I can understand having a rule. But could they not make an exception where someone is sick? You read glowing praise for hotels that went above and beyond to care for guests who came down with COVID during the pandemic. And consider other accommodations that provide room service. Where is the humanity at Gyllyngvase?" Andrew replied to say that my "account of events is rather inaccurate. Firstly, Elle is currently not working and in fact, your request was dealt with by myself". When I made the request in the dining room, it was to a person who told me she also cleans the rooms. She said she had to check with Elle, and came back with the reply that no food was allowed. When I stayed for breakfast, Elle came out and was chatting, both then and the next day, with other guests, including John, the driver/guide for our tour company. At no time did I see or hear of Andrew after our check-in, at which time he was indeed most welcoming and carried out luggage up for us. Andrew: "Secondly, you made no request for bread/toast. Your wife ordered a full cooked breakfast and your request was for your wife to have her breakfast in the room, i.e. a full cooked breakfast .... We explained to you that this would not be possible and offered you an alternative which you declined". Yes, my wife did originally pre-book a full breakfast the night before, but she was not well enough for that the next day, so I asked for some bread/toast. That was refused and no "alternative" was ever offered. Andrew graciously says that he hopes my wife "has recovered from her headache". Where he gets that from is a mystery. I told the meal/housekeeping staff person that my wife was feeling fluey. Why else would that person ask me, "She's not got COVID, has she?" I found the 1st May 2023 review on Booking.com by Kelly most interesting. According to her, she and her husband vacated their room early and were killing time in the garden room for an hour before their train. She said they were refused access to a toilet and were told, untruthfully, that there was no toilet. Kelly commented that "this was simply unkind". Apart from the fact that we are both retired couples from Canada, I find the parallel to our own case striking in terms of both unkindness and untruthfulness. Like that couple, I would have given Gyllyngvase House a much higher rating but for the incident concerned. Like them, "We would not return here now".…
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.