Unfortunately the Hotel Alexandra did not live up to its own hype. It was very nicely decorated and the staff were very friendly and all but it was a little bit style over substance in my opinion, and for £167 per night, was not particularly good value.
After spending 2 nights in the 'wild' we were looking forward to a nice scrub down, a fluffy dressing gown (as specified on their website) and a night in front of the shit box in our room. However it was not to be . . .
Ring Ring.
Reception: Hello Reception, how can I help?
Me: Hello, your welcome pack says you do room service, but there's no menu.
Reception: No menu?
Me: No. It only has the restaurant menu, can you tell us what you do for room service?
Reception: I don't know. I'll find out and call you back.
Me: Ok, thanks.
Ten minutes later
Ring Ring.
Me: Hello?
Reception: Hello, I just spoke to the chef and we can do room service.
Me: Yes, it says that in the welcome pack but what food is it?
Reception: I'll bring a menu up.
Me: Thank you.
4 minutes later.
Knock knock.
Wig: Hello?
Young Girl: Here's the menu for the restaurant.
Wig: We have that already, we were after the room service menu.
Young Girl: Oh, sorry. I don't have one of those.
Wig: Could you try and find one.
Young Girl: Ok.
Wig: Thanks. And can you also find out why we don't have any dressing gowns.
Young Girl: Yes, ok.
A very long time later.
Ring Ring.
Me: Hello?!
Reception: Hello, we have a shortage of dressing gowns today so we don't have any for you, I'm sorry.
Me: Oh, ok. Did you manage to find out about the room service menu though?
Reception: Yes, you can various salads, mussels, fishcakes or a sandwich.
Me: Right then. Can you tell me what the fish cakes come with?
Reception: I don't know.
Me: Can you find out? . . .
Reception: Yes, I'll call the chef and call you back.
Me: Fine.
God knows when.
Ring Ring.
Me: Hello . . .
Reception: Hello, the fish cakes come on their own.
Me: I'll just have a salad then. Thanks.
What a bloody palava . . . . .
However, the less than impressive night at the hotel was followed by a most spectacular day. The Wig and I booked onto a Fossil tour organised by the Mary Anning Fossil Museum which I was desperate to do before we left Lyme Regis. It cost £10 for 3 hours and all we knew was that we had to meet at the museum by midday. Obviously we stuck out like sore thumbs amongst the group being totally underdressed for 3 hours raking though sludge on a beach, white plimsol's are not good fossiling footwear, and we were the only people not to have our own fossil hammers. Very rookie . . .
After a fairly detailed talk about the fossils in the area and a description of what to look out for, we were all set loose along the shoreline. I don't consider myself a particularly competitive person but I really, REALLY wanted to find something. The Guide had told us that we would be quite lucky if we did find anything though as the sunny weather was not good fossiling weather (rain is better as it uncovers the fossils) and also that it was just after the school holiday so most of the surface fossils would have already been found and taken. Undeterred, I strayed slightly from the group to look amongst the wetter sand and lo and behold, there it was. Sitting all alone with a strange marking down the side, similar to what we had been told to look out for, the rock. I picked up the rock and sheepishly showed the guide to see if he thought there might be something in it. He thought there might be so gave the rock a few taps with his hammer and the rock opened up, revealing ammonite fossils that have not been seen by anyone else in the whole planet for over a 100 million years. This thought makes my brain want to explode. But also made me feel very special, not to mention very excited, that I found it.
View from Hotel grounds.
Hotel Lounge.
Breakfast room.
After spending 2 nights in the 'wild' we were looking forward to a nice scrub down, a fluffy dressing gown (as specified on their website) and a night in front of the shit box in our room. However it was not to be . . .
Ring Ring.
Reception: Hello Reception, how can I help?
Me: Hello, your welcome pack says you do room service, but there's no menu.
Reception: No menu?
Me: No. It only has the restaurant menu, can you tell us what you do for room service?
Reception: I don't know. I'll find out and call you back.
Me: Ok, thanks.
Ten minutes later
Ring Ring.
Me: Hello?
Reception: Hello, I just spoke to the chef and we can do room service.
Me: Yes, it says that in the welcome pack but what food is it?
Reception: I'll bring a menu up.
Me: Thank you.
4 minutes later.
Knock knock.
Wig: Hello?
Young Girl: Here's the menu for the restaurant.
Wig: We have that already, we were after the room service menu.
Young Girl: Oh, sorry. I don't have one of those.
Wig: Could you try and find one.
Young Girl: Ok.
Wig: Thanks. And can you also find out why we don't have any dressing gowns.
Young Girl: Yes, ok.
A very long time later.
Ring Ring.
Me: Hello?!
Reception: Hello, we have a shortage of dressing gowns today so we don't have any for you, I'm sorry.
Me: Oh, ok. Did you manage to find out about the room service menu though?
Reception: Yes, you can various salads, mussels, fishcakes or a sandwich.
Me: Right then. Can you tell me what the fish cakes come with?
Reception: I don't know.
Me: Can you find out? . . .
Reception: Yes, I'll call the chef and call you back.
Me: Fine.
God knows when.
Ring Ring.
Me: Hello . . .
Reception: Hello, the fish cakes come on their own.
Me: I'll just have a salad then. Thanks.
What a bloody palava . . . . .
However, the less than impressive night at the hotel was followed by a most spectacular day. The Wig and I booked onto a Fossil tour organised by the Mary Anning Fossil Museum which I was desperate to do before we left Lyme Regis. It cost £10 for 3 hours and all we knew was that we had to meet at the museum by midday. Obviously we stuck out like sore thumbs amongst the group being totally underdressed for 3 hours raking though sludge on a beach, white plimsol's are not good fossiling footwear, and we were the only people not to have our own fossil hammers. Very rookie . . .
Prime Fossil Hunting ground
Awesome Fossil Guide. Amazing hair.
Fossils!
After a fairly detailed talk about the fossils in the area and a description of what to look out for, we were all set loose along the shoreline. I don't consider myself a particularly competitive person but I really, REALLY wanted to find something. The Guide had told us that we would be quite lucky if we did find anything though as the sunny weather was not good fossiling weather (rain is better as it uncovers the fossils) and also that it was just after the school holiday so most of the surface fossils would have already been found and taken. Undeterred, I strayed slightly from the group to look amongst the wetter sand and lo and behold, there it was. Sitting all alone with a strange marking down the side, similar to what we had been told to look out for, the rock. I picked up the rock and sheepishly showed the guide to see if he thought there might be something in it. He thought there might be so gave the rock a few taps with his hammer and the rock opened up, revealing ammonite fossils that have not been seen by anyone else in the whole planet for over a 100 million years. This thought makes my brain want to explode. But also made me feel very special, not to mention very excited, that I found it.
The two halves of my rock.
Wig's booty.
So Lyme Regis really was a great place to stop off, I can honestly say that finding that rock was one of the most amazing moments of my life. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone and everyone as it was completely fascinating and well worth the money. Hopefully finding the rock is sign of good luck for the future, I love all that sort of stuff. We'd had such a good day that we were no way ready for the holiday to end quite yet, so a quick sniff around on the iPad led us to the little village of Wedmore where we booked a room for the night at The George Inn.
Cheerio Lyme Regis, hello Wedmore.
To be continued . . . .
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