I had to double check that I had input the right hotel when I looked at the one of previous reviews. Perhaps it has changed hands since then. Hadn’t read any previous reviews on this or any other hotel in Oakham has had originally planned to camp in the area. However after a four-hour journey from London in torrential rain only to find that the campsite didn’t accept tents arrived at their door looking a bit sorry for ourselves. The staff could not have been more welcoming, friendly and helpful and offered us the only one available of four rooms. In the meantime the kitchen staff helped me get the bikes off the roof rack and stored them in a secure lock up during our stay.
We stayed in the Fanny Nelson room (no jokes please!). We were warned about the colour scheme before we opened the door but were still mildly shocked. The walls were painted deep purple (I half expected “Smoke on the Water” to be playing as we entered). Whilst I accept that this would not be everyone’s cup of tea to us it merely added to the quirkiness of the room which also included lava lamps, a zebra print bedspread and matching hot water bottle cover (!), wrought iron effect furniture, exposed black wooden beams, mysterious little hatchways in the roof and wall mounted candle holders. The bed was extremely comfortable. The room was at the back of the hotel and very quiet. The ensuite shower room was small but adequate although needed a couple of cosmetic improvements. It was quite frustrating trying to wet shave when the only mirror was above the toilet next to the basin. Also watch the step down from the shower cubicle! Both my partner and I fell down it although not at the same time!
My only real criticism of the room was the fact that the two windows on one side had been secondarily glazed and could not be opened. Even though the window on the other side and the one in the shower room could it still made the room very stuffy when the sun came out the following day.
The front of house lady who served us for breakfast was very friendly and the breakfasts were super – lots of choice - about eight dishes including full English, scrambled egg and salmon, calves kidneys, continental, etc. Best table is in the bay window looking out onto the market square. No problems with refills of tea, coffee and toast. The room is one of two adjoining ones used for the evening meals. The second one has a row of meat hooks hanging from a wooden beam which reminded me of the Texas Chainsaw massacre!!
There is a small lounge on the ground floor which looks more like a little study – delightful for a quiet early evening drink. It was popular with diners prior to going to their tables. We weren’t able to eat there as both nights were completely booked but the menu looked promising.
The only thing that concerned me slightly was when the fire alarm went off mid afternoon on one day of our stay. We went to the “muster” area to find a couple of other guests wandering aimlessly around too. There were no staff on the premises and when one did arrive after about 15 minutes didn’t appear to know how to switch the system off – fortunately it was a fault not a fire.
Oakham is nice place to wander around – lots of coffee shops (the one down the alley by the church particularly nice), a few pubs (Grainstore brewery by station good for real ale fans) and bijou shops to part you from your hard earned cash. Rutland Water nearby good for cycling followed by a thirst quenching pint or two in The Finches Arms in Hambleton.