My stay at Cecilia's was ok, but there were a couple of things I was concerned about. I found some of the facilities a little ramshackle - in particular, while the bed was comfortable, the bedside lamp in the bedroom was very rickety and I found the toilet in the shared bathroom impossible to flush properly- the only way I could get it to clear completely was to fill Cecilia's big kitchen kettle and pour water from it into the lavatory at the same time as flushing it; this was a definite drawback to my stay.
However, the main issue was that a few days before I arrived, Cecilia emailed me to say that she would be away on a business trip and that her son would be looking after things while I was there. It turned out that her son was only 16, and while he was delightful and did his best to look after me, I felt that it was completely inappropriate to leave him with that level of responsibility - it's fine if everything goes smoothly, but how would he be expected to cope if something went wrong, eg a guest getting ill in the middle of the night? Cecilia was actually in Egypt, and scheduled to be away for at least a couple of weeks so couldn't have returned quickly if she'd been needed. I attempted to communicate privately with Cecilia to raise my concern about these issues,, and received what I consider really abusive responses, as follows:
"I can reassure you that I have read and taken on board your so called feedback. I have the opinion that you Katherine is impossible to please! You most likely can't afford real Barnes prices so went for mine as its the best value option?? Am I hitting the nail on the head Dear . Well ramshackle is rather harsh"
"Anyway my sweet lady I can also tell you that ***s father is close by and so is *** who is ***s brother aged 26 just finished his Master at UCL they are both looking in without you realising. So sorry we coul not easr you . Good luck in life in general most be hard seeking perfection. "
No acknowledgement of the dodgy plumbing or any mention, prior to my email, by either Cecilia or her son, that there were any other adults on hand to sort out any problems. All I was aware of was a pleasant young lad trying very hard to get things right, but being out of his depth - not a comfortable position to be in as a paying guest. Can't say I'm expecting an objective review from her.....