A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to have a wedding to go to in Wells, Somerset. I'd never been to Wells before and I was impressed with what a lovely place it was. Not only does it boast a beautiful cathedral, it also has a very impressive bishop's keep surrounded by a mote.

Prices and Booking

As the wedding was quite early in the morning we decided to go down the night before and stay in a hotel or a B&B so that we'd have time enough in the morning to get up and get ready. So we looked on the internet and it turned out that everything was pretty expensive. We tried looking up a hotel that was right next to the cathedral just to see what kind of prices it charged and it seemed as though it was going to cost us over £100 per night. However, when we delved deeper into the site the price seemed to become less and less as we found that the day we wanted to go came at a discount! We ended up paying around £70 for two of us to stay in The Ancient Gatehouse Hotel which was on the doorstep of Cathedral Green!

I have to say that the website wasn't all that easy to navigate as it seemed as though there was very little content and a massive page about hotel disclaimers and what they could charge you for if you broke things! But booking was pretty straightforward (its always in their interests to make that easy I guess) and we didn't even need out E-receipt when we turned up at the hotel as they had our booking and were happy to let us in.

Parking

Parking could have been an issue as the Ancient Gatehouse doesn't have any parking spaces of its own. The nearest car parks in town were fairly expensive and almost always full, but we were lucky enough to be able to park in the White Hart's car park as the both hotels are owned by the same people. All we had to do was give out car registration number to the reception at the Ancient Gatehouse. They didn't advertise that we were allowed to do this, so its worth asking as we were pleasantly surprised!

The Hotel

The Ancient Gatehouse is particularly unique because part of it is actually housed in the old gatehouse to the cathedral and therefore it looks very impressive from the outside. Our room was in the main part of the hotel at the front, so it wasn't quite as ancient, but it was still pretty old. Our room had exposed beams running across the high ceilinged bathroom and bedroom and a lovely window street to look out over the street and the sister hotel - The White Hart - opposite.

One of the main reasons we had decided that it was worth staying at this hotel was due to the fact that we were able to book a four-poster bed! The bed looked pretty old and was made from dark wood, but we weren't sure exactly how old it was or if it was just a replica. Either way it was pretty exciting. Check out my photos of the room with this review to see the hotel room and four-poster bed in all its ancient glory.

We'd read some rather mixed reviews online about the hotel that made us a bit dubious about how high quality the room was going to be. Its only a 2 star hotel, but I often find that the star rating bears no resemblance to how nice the hotel is. There was no way this hotel was going to get a higher star rating as it was most probably listed and therefore unlikely to get a lift installed at any time soon. We'd read that the bed was, in some instances, the "most comfortable" bed they'd ever slept on, and "the worst night's sleep" they'd ever had. The reason for this varied report soon became apparent as we realised that the bed was so true to its original four-poster design that it was actually incredibly short. My boyfriend is an average height and he found his feet were off the end. I'm pretty short myself and even I found that I didn't fit in the bed if I lay out straight. But if you're happy to sleep in a kind of fetal position then it can be the most comfy bed ever as the mattress is over a foot high and sooo soft.

The décor of the room was a little tired. I'd guess It hadn't been decorated for at least 15 years, but the furniture was nice and there was a cute inbuilt cupboard for hanging clothes. The TV was pretty small and rubbish, but nice to have nonetheless.

Tea and coffee making facilities were provided, as were free shampoo, conditioner and soaps in the bathroom. The usual towels are provided with the same terms as most hotels now, that if you are staying for more than one night then you can leave them on the rail to use them again and put them on the floor to have them washed.

The water in the shower wasn't very hot, but it wasn't cold either. It might have been an off day for the hotel or that we got up pretty early in the morning and the boiler hadn't had a chance to get going, but if you like your hot showers then this might disappoint you a bit. The bathroom itself was very clean and was equipt with a shower unit, mirror and a sink.

Extras

Another great selling point of the hotel was that breakfast the next morning was included. This wasn't actually served at the Ancient Gatehouse, but instead at the White Horse opposite. But the streets in Wells are so narrow that walking across took about 5 steps and then we just let ourselves into the downstairs restaurant and were waited upon by two staff who were very smiley and welcoming even at the early hour we arrived.

Breakfast included tea or coffee, a continental starter of cereal or fruit, and then a full English breakfast with toast. Everything was absolutely delicious and clearly top quality food. We didn't even have to give a room number which made the place seem very friendly and I suppose very trusting!

Overall

Overall the biggest two selling points of this unique little hotel are its location (right in the centre of Wells, right next to the Cathedral) and its period features (and four-poster beds!). The parking and the potentially higher cost than we paid might put you off, but it was a lovely experience and we'll certainly remember it over some of the larger branded hotels.

Thanks for reading and feel free to check out the photos.

**I'm having trouble uploading photos at the moment - but I'll try to add them again soon!**

© 2008 tac20