Had always wanted to have a romantic getaway at this Bed and Breakfast. To my surprise, my special someone came through near Valentines Day and I greatly anticipated the visit.
It was raining when we arrived up the steep, curvy drive that brought us around to the main house. I immediately noticed it did not look much like the beautiful photos the website proudly boasts.
Perhaps it was just the season (mid Feb in Baltimore isn't exactly beautiful and floral..) but it seemed the property was neglected and overgrown. It was clearly not something that happened overnight. It looked like it had been abandoned and more something out of a creepy movie than a romantic getaway. Not what I had in mind.
The house was staffed by one person. One. Thats it. One person for this huge house and she left around 10pm making it empty and to me, unsafe. She left the keys for a guest who was arriving late taped to the front door...where anyone could have got to them. That bothered me. That guest ended up walking most of the driveway in the middle of the night to get to the hotel due to the condition of the driveway , and then arrived to a keys taped to the front door....I dont know who was more disappointed...him or us.
Weather was bad keeping us in for the night as the driveway iced over making our going to dinner impossible, so we didn't eat that night. We made do with a hot bath and an early bedtime and held out for breakfast.
Breakfast wasn't bad but it was certainly no gourmet meal. Not any different in quality than what you would find at a pancake house. No complaints just seems to me the descriptions are a bit overblown and overmarketed.
For the price, I would have done better at a Marriott, and had access to SOME kind of food in the event of another iced driveway.
Perhaps another time,
and another place.
I think The Gramercy may have at one point lived up to the description, but it seems the desire to maintain it has been lost, sadly. It would serve better as a historic home to tour and it's current other strategy...weddings.
I would suggest to them a serious reduction in rate as a bed and breakfast or investing some time and money into the presentation. If unwilling to do either, perhaps less advertising that creates a luster of the mansion that leaves one searching while looking right at it.
A business is like a marriage. You can't expect it to always be new and fresh so you have to work at it to keep it that way. It didn't appear anyone was interested in doing that. The passion for making this house wonderful apparently died somewhere. Complacency in business is a dangerous thing.
For an example of quality service, appearance and overall value, go south to Charlottesville, VA to the Foxfield Inn. Splendid in every way. Mary Pat and John are good people, dedicated to their home and business, appreciative of the clients, prideful of their home and know a little something about modest advertising and exceeding expectations.
