I am astounded by the good reviews that this guest house has, and I'm left wondering if the authors had stayed at the same place as us!!!
Having filtered for a dog friendly guest house through Booking.com, we were directed to the Acorn. There was 1 room left, which was a superior room. My husband booked us in and spoke with the owner the following day and explained that we had booked the room but would be arriving for an overnight stay on Saturday night with a large dog and we didn't want any issues upon arrival with the dog being in a superior room. The owner said that she would swap us into a downstairs twin room.
Upon arrival, we were met with a guest house located on an extremely busy main road leading into the city centre. we were shown into Room 1 on the ground floor overlooking the road.
We were truly amazed that someone would be bold enough to charge £70 + £10 for our dog, for a room that smelled musty and was very depressing. The bland décor, chipped paintwork, curtains that weren't hung properly, dirty windows, dark furnishings and duvet covers, Dunelm sheets that were a free skin exfoliator made for an awful experience. Evidence of black mould spores were present around the base of the large,bowed window and on the bathroom ceiling. A external front door was used as a bathroom door! The sink appeared to be set into a kitchen unit carcass. The over head shower looked old and the shower head was covered in lime scale and needs to be replaced. The towels were grey and threads were pulled and again added to the depressing overall impression. In the bedroom, the flat screen television must be one of the smallest you can purchase. The noise from the road and the incessant sound of sirens made sleeping a nightmare.
The guest house boasts a very large garden. Our dog is not dog friendly, so when the owner said that her dogs are generally outside in the garden, we expressed concern and certainly didn't want her dogs to be stressed by our dogs presence. We were surprised to be asked to "book" time in the garden for our dog. We declined and used the grass verge on the road. The owner went on to stress that her establishment is not really dog friendly and should not be marketed by Booking.Com as such.
On a plus point, the breakfast was good with quality ingredients, however we will not be returning to this place ever again. The condition of the room and its furnishings can only be described as drab, and was only surpassed by an experience we had to endure in a Blackpool Guest House many, many years ago.