Banoge House

Lovely old building with nicely kept gardens room was nice and warm john the manager provided a taxi service for us to and from our venue and made us a nice fresh breakfast nxt morning will be back in the summer to try the bbq john.😁

Miss Haversham meets Cold Comfort Farm Rereading other guests' comments, it’s hard to believe that the property has received so many 5 star reviews (although none recently). It’s time, we feel, for a reality check: less about the charm of the property and its owner John and more about the harsh realities facing visitors to Banoge House. We arrived at about 7pm on a cold January night, and the first things that greeted us were the freezing temperature in the lobby area, the powerful smell of cigarette smoke and the demand for money before we took another step into the property. Having paid up, we were shown into a massive bedroom with a small double and two single beds. Two feeble radiators had been put on, but the temperature was sub zero. Left by John to explore, we discovered two deeply unattractive dark grey handtowels, which were damp, and just one bath towel between us, on the side of a freestanding bath with a handheld shower attachment. No toiletries to speak of, just liquid hand soap. The bath towel was also damp. The bedlinen looked tired and old, the pillows were sagging and the throw on our double bed smelt faintly of cat wee. There was no kettle, no cups, no tea or coffee, no glasses and no water. We went out for dinner, dreading the return to Cold Comfort Farm, and having obtained glasses from John, necked a couple of large whiskies from the bottle we had bought before creeping apprehensively into bed and hoping fervently for sleep, which came and went intermittently. Choosing to forgo a shower in the morning, we opted for a basin wash, having tried to air the handtowels on one of the radiators, and went down for breakfast. The large kitchen was untidy and cluttered. We decided to have cereal while waiting for our cooked breakfast, and were told that we were the first guests in months to choose cereal – hardly encouraging! However, to be fair, the hot breakfast was decent and filling, although it was a ‘take it or leave it’ plateful with no food choices given. My bottle of tomato ketchup was liberally caked around the nozzle with old congealed sauce. The cat regarded us from its place in front of the Aga. We packed and left as quickly as possible, vowing to commit our thoughts to paper in an effort to spare others the same experience. So please, if you are tempted by the three stars and the positive reviews, ask to see your room first before coughing up the payment, and don’t get suckered in to any kind of commitment. If you take our words of advice, you’ll pay a little extra and stay elsewhere. If not, well, you can’t say you weren’t warned! We hope that someone in an official capacity somewhere reads this review and feels it might be time to reassess Banoge House as a 3-star B&B. Jane and Michael Gilbert

Very nice place to stay and John the owner was so nice and well mannered highly recommended this place so friendly and clean