My husband and I were sadly very disappointed by our 2 night stay at West Coates. The place itself is okay - good food, reasonable furnishings and amenities and some nice personal touches - but the price of £100 per night was much too steep for what you get and for how you are treated.
Our room with private bath (not ensuite and you had to walk up and down 14 steps to get there) was as expensive as those with ensuite bathrooms. Our "superking size bed" was really two twin beds zipped together and so you felt the middle join and though there was good attention to detail and a good freshly cooked breakfast we felt rather miffed that we were not given keys to our room or to the front door. When we asked for some so we could operate as free agents we were told "No way. This is a guest house not a hotel." (Never mind that it is priced as a hotel or that every other guest house I ever stayed at gives its guests keys to their rooms and the front door.)
So apart from not being able to ensure privacy in our bedroom or secure our possessions, we also were not able to come and go as we pleased. On Saturday morning we left for a pleasant walk around the walls of Berwick at 10.30 a.m.and though the weather was wet and foul we couldn't return to the house or our room until 2.30 p.m. as the proprietess Karen was out. This ridiculous keyless situation also meant that we had to leave early from the party we came to Scotland to attend to be home in time for the proprietess' curfew of midnight. After saying that we didn't want to have to leave our party early which was being held about 10 minutes car journey from West Coates, she conceded that she was prepared for us to be "10 minutes later than that - but not 20!" Imagine treating two professional, middle-aged, paying adult guests in that way - especially as none of these conditions were advertised on the website or mentioned when I telephoned to book.
The grounds/gardens of West Coates are lovely and though there is a decent size swimming pool the facilities supporting it are somewhat substandard and the hours of access are limited. True, Karen advertises she will open the detached building by arrangement, but I felt that she offered that service grudgingly - however once offered she did help to make it a good experience. The pool has recently been relined to look like mosaic tile and there is a wonderful new hot tub/jacuzzi but the showers and toilet area, though clean, are finished in grubby concrete and badly in need of improved decor.
My final gripe was that even though no check-out time was advertised or mentioned on booking or arrival my husband was asked on our day of departure if I "was alright" at 11.10 a.m. because I "hadn't yet checked out and it was past check out time."
I would say that £60 per night would be the right price for a room with private bath at West Coates but being treated like children means that I wouldn't readily choose to stay here again at any price.
