Lol he is the hottest contestant for quite a long time, maybe ever

I liked what she said about the template part. I like disorder not prime and proper. I am sure her place is for the outdoor type and you can take your own horse there ... lovely and I would feel really relaxed there rather than worried about putting mud on the pristine carpet.

Really? Not as hot as the guy from The Glocester in Isle of Wight.

You must have been watching a different programme to me, she seemed to take most of ot on board

Don't think I saw that week...

Teehee, I bet I do. I wonder who Cliff Mitchell is.

I think though that most people doing it years ago would still clean and be prepared, no?

For me it's far too ad hoc, you can't treat paying guests the same as pals who stay the night after getting sloshed at dinner and you certainly shouldn't be charging them so much money.

Some people find extreme dizziness endearing, I found it extremely annoying - and it concerns me that someone so scatty is open to the unsuspecting public. She can't possibly be insured, surely?

I don't think her lifestyle is lavish - or at least, I think her priority is probably her horses because if she did have a lavish (in a material sense) lifestyle, she'd have a proper staircase put in, she'd have better furniture, have fixed the windows, etc.


That is a normal French staircase. I cannot shake a stick at the number of French houses I know that still have that sort of staircase. (We don't). But... Sussex is not France and it wouldn't cost a fortune to put in something more useable. Even so, I don't think she does let it out normally - she just let it out to accommodate all the 4iabedders.


Nor me. The room with the sitting room overlooking the downs would suit me nicely and if I can ride her horses too... works for me. e2a: does the price include b&b for own horse too? In which case that would be very good value.


I'd stay there too. Without a bit of research - and I can't be bothered - I don't know whether £90 - £100 is the going rate for that area. I think she's probably over-charging but if sufficient people are happy to pay and if guests understand what they're booking... <shrug>


I'm not sure... I thought she was taking the criticism - not least because she pointed out that half-an-idea (which I took to be her idea of letting her bedroom out with the shared bathroom) was actually no idea at all. I do think she will put out fresh soap in future - it had just not occurred to her that it was necessary. I don't think she's particularly realistic but I do think she won't be averse to learning from her participation. Which is more than a lot of 4iaB owners do.

I was intrigued by the mention of a priest hole and wasn't sure if they meant it literally. Is that where the other sister really slept? I wanted to have a look at it

Back on the toast issue - I do indeed refuse toast until I know that I actually want it but some places just bring it to you without asking.

It seems a bit rude to sit down and then say "if you are planning to bring toast then please don't until we ask for it".

My OH often eats it just to be polite because we hate the waste but I would much rather not have it at all if I am already full up.

Watched the whole 5 programmes at a run, and was horrified by the deliberate gamesmanship of that odious woman. I am constantly amazed at how many of these people confuse 'personal preference' with 'personal attack'. I couldn't have stayed in her horrendous place, so overwhelming - and I love Victorian houses - and as for that ridiculous 'playacting'. Cringemaking in the extreme.

Todays B&B seemed less like staying at a professional B&B, and more like staying at a family members house.

She is a nice person, but i do think this should be marked down based on it not being a proper B&B imo.

I really like American lady.

I think Lesley's lovely, (I have a good friend just like her, borderline potty, but great fun to be around) and the setting/location of her place looked gorgeous, but £98 a night for what you get! Noooo, thank you. £60 per night tops would seem a bit more realistic.

Obviously it had to be utilised so she could take part but surely health and safety regulations would make 'her' room with the dodgy looking staircase up to it a total no go to let as part of a B&B.

The pricing was odd - no way was the stable and attic room worth the same as the one the sisters had. It is a very expensive area of the country though so £98 for that room maynot be OTT - I suppose if she's getting bookings then it must be right.
Funny that relatively little was made of the cleanliness - just shows how hard contestants usually have to look for a hair to moan about.
It really didn't need two guests to pitch in with the breakfast - a case of 'me too!' from the welsh lady I think. (I'm not actually convinced Lech was really needed either).

Well it might be rude if you said it like that.
When they ask if we'd like brown/white or a mix of toast I would say 'actually we don't really like our toast before the hot breakfast, so we'd like to wait, can we give you a shout if we find we'd like some?' or something like that.
I find it more embarrassing to leave perfectly good food because it's not to our taste or something we really don't want or need, but I certainly wouldn't eat something to be polite in a restaurant or guest house.


I think they actually overmarked on some points because they like her.
The location was the saving grace.

Normandie it's Ashdown Forest (Pooh country) in an AONB, so a destination in itself, but also handy for Gatwick and the coast, plus all the other wonderful places to visit in Sussex (not too shabby to get up to London for a day in the smoke, either) I'd say £80-£100 per night would be a fair price for the area, but for that I'd expect something pretty decent.
Here's somewhere in competition
http://www.laurelcottage-ashdownforest.co.uk/index.html
but their site gives a lot more idea about the area.

I've been in a fair few French properties with dodgy access ladders, but you and I both know we're talking UK regs. and to imagine guests going up and down that ladder with their baggage just horrifies me
In reality I don't imagine there are many times when she'd have to let out her own room because of booking pressures, but when/if she comes to sell the property, that room won't count*

*although when we were moving here an Agent tried to sell us a place with a converted space that clearly couldn't have obtained proper PP and when challenged, they actually said
'ah, well. That's only really a problem when you come to sell'
There.Are.No.Words.

Agreed!!LOL

He`ll be getting fan mail!

Sorry posted in error - proper post below!

I too think that the guests this episode were unusually generous in their marking compared to other weeks. Not saying they should have marked lower but just that I think Lesley got away with quite a lot.

Just realised there is a Les, a Lesh, and a Lesley in this week's! Confusing.

Anyway I wouldn't have wanted to stay at Lesley's. I thought her sharing the bathroom with Les and not telling him was a little bit off to be honest. And you'd never get £98 for that room with shared facilities. Also did she have to share the same staircase (trapdoor) with Les?! How on earth did that work?! She would have had to go through his room. That whole set up was just not comfortable or acceptable in my opinion.

And I found her breakfast concept a little odd - no menu and see what we have in the cupboard! But presumably she had actually bought in loads of stuff and was just acting quite blasé about it.

I don't have a problem with her attitude towards it at all (the blasé-ness), however I think she would just struggle to maintain repeat happy customers and therefore it's perhaps not viable running a business in that manner. Not sure she's that business- or people-focussed.

One more thing: I also dislike it when one of the guests just doesn't get a mention and possibly stays elsewhere. Lesh for example. They should make it clear what's going on.

I'm still confused about Les and Lesh's friendship. Lesh never says anything. I just don't get why he's there, apart from to rescue breakfast! I understand he's the chef at Les's but still, it just seems a strange dynamic.

I loved Ben and his Gran. Their place was perfect too.

When I wanted to use my loft as an office I had to have a proper staircase, a fire door to the loft AND all rooms opening on to egress (3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom on first floor, living room on ground). I won't go in to the necessaries re the floor and windows but it involved inspecting the depth of the foundations.

There is no way that room is legal.

Ther must have been a lot of training for the horse ride we didnt see, you cant just plonk people who dont ride on a horse in an open field.

I wondered about that too, and came to the same conclusion. Nice lady, but she didn't seem to have thought through any aspect of running a B&B.

I am thirty two years old and I am reading a thread debating the merits of making your own toast at breakfast time vs. toast delivered with your breakfast....

But I find this programme strangely addictive!