The Cross Keys

My partner and I, and another friend went to Peebles for a gig at the Eastgate Theatre which was excellent. The hotel we booked not so. Our friend was allocated a room twice the size of ours, inexplicably, so we swapped. My partner was kept awake most of the night with someone walking about noisily in the room above with what she thought was a TV set blaring, not to mention clicks and tapping from the air conditioning which we had turned off. At 6.30 she woke me as it sounded like someone was having a shower in our bathroom. She opened the door and there was a flood of water coming through the ceiling. This continued for about 5 minutes. I tried calling reception but received no answer. This was followed by very loud clomping about above us for 15 minutes. Upon checkout we told the female staff member, who apologised but didn’t offer anything by way of recompense, and didn’t seem surprised or in any way concerned that the ceiling might have come down. Not even a free breakfast. We discovered the hotel’s ******* credentials as we sat and ate breakfast by reading the information panels that decorate the bar, which only seemed to freak my partner out more than she had been already. The nook we sat in made my partner feel almost seasick and our friend felt a chill. I noticed a Victorian photo on the wall looked eerily like my partner’s brother, with “The Shining” ending springing to mind. I liked the food and free refills of coffee however. The pints were very reasonably priced. There is a lovely no smoking beer garden, but the snow meant it was out of bounds. Built in 1693, I think this hotel could make more of its historic credentials and less chain like. I think the shower trays are slow to drain and water escapes onto the floor. This has obviously pooled in the roof space and it finally broke through causing a flood. Nothing supernatural in my opinion and the clomping around above us more likely to be a thoughtless patron rather than a ghostly former landlady. The bathroom tap was pretty loose probably caused by people attempting to fill the kettle in such a shallow sink. I’d go back but think zmy partner prefers the Hydro somehow.

Arrived at 1345 to be told by a member of staff in a n abrupt manner “check is not till 2 “ it appeared the guy on the bar was new and was left alone to deal with all customers at the bar. One girl was running around serving meals. The member of staff who appeared to be a team leader disappeared with a contractor for a good 30 minutes. The staff that were left were under severe pressure. When the team leader did return I stood for a good 10 mins before I was acknowledged. Eventually I was booked in , and all was good from there on in. There was obviously not enough staff on duty. Wetherspoons are I believe in the process of selling this venue. With the right staffing and some good marketing this place would make a good events venue. Thanks

After finding the reception at the end of the bar, check-in was easy. We were in room 3 at the top of a couple flights of stairs. It was spacious with a sofa at the end of the bed and two sitting chairs by a small table. The bed was comfortable. Outwardly the room looked very nice and clean, but that was before I took a closer look. There were moister marks on the walls from where water ran down them and they haven’t been cleaned. The top of the headboard was covered in dust. In the bathroom there were fingerprints on the makeup mirror from whoever, the glass shelf was covered in dust, and the underside of the toilet rim was full of mildew as was the grout in much of the shower, but mostly closer to the floor. Even the corporate sign in the bathroom reminding guests about excessive laundry contained grammar and spelling errors. Our travel companions in room 4 had cobwebs on the overhead light and ceiling. It makes one wonder what, if anything, was really cleaned between guests. There was WiFi but it did drop out on frequently.