Wartling Place Country House

This review is hard to write. I always try to be objective and, as a rule, we like to support independently owned businesses. But it has taken 5 months to wrap our heads around what happened at this place and feel we must warn prospective guests. We were very fortunate to have had another place to go that night so could get away and just absorb the shock of what transpired; many travelling would not. I who was attending the nearby Herstmonceaux Castle for a law program and my husband was flying in off a red-eye to meet me for our wedding anniversary. We were excited to book a couple of nights away at Wartling, which was nearby and had excellent recent reviews. My husband checked us in - it was stunning, the rooms beautiful and the hostess lovely. We returned later that evening at 8:30 PM and went up to our room. We were the only guests there that night. Immediately on entering the room we were overtaken by the loudness of what seemed to be a couple talking loudly in the room immediately below us, with the television blaring. We could hear every word as if they were in the room. As we had simply set down our bags and not used the space, we quickly debated if we should ask for another room. The space was sprawling so there were rooms further away from the landlord's living quarters and, while my husband picked this room as the nicest, the others were just fine and lovely too. My husband decided to call downstairs to ask if we could change rooms as it was a bit loud. The hostess was not happy about the request and asked my husband to come downstairs. A short while later he called me to ask me to come down as the hostess was upset and he was not sure what to do. I came down, and the hostess was very agitated, standing in my husband's face saying 'but I asked you which room you wanted and you wanted that one.' We tried to explain that, yes, we did, but because it was a bit loud and we had not used the room, might we just switch to one further down the hall? The woman was very upset, and argued with us about whether or not there was any noise. She denied her tv was loud or that we could hear them talking. She kept saying the room was her best room and how insulted she was and this 'never happens' - people are always happy here. She kept saying 'why aren't you happy hear?' It was bizarre, she was erratic. She told us a room change was unacceptable because we had already used the room and now it would have to be cleaned. My husband was apologetic and said he understood, and could we please pay her for the inconvenience - we asked if 100 pounds was enough for the room re-cleaning? She huffed in disgust and said no, nothing would be enough. She then bopped 'ok, if you want a new room, let's go then and look!' at which point she SLAPPED MY HUSBAND ON THE BOTTOM and started moving towards the stairway. He and I stood there absolutely stunned and speechless. We started walking up the stairs and quietly said to each other something was definitely wrong with th

Excellent 2-night stay in the 2-bedroom cottage. So beautifully furnished and equipped. Amazing bedding, comfortable beds and rooms. Very friendly and helpful host. Highly recommend. Easy to get to nearby pubs and castles and the Airbourne show.

We are so grateful to Rowena! She is the best landlady we have ever found. She was sympathetic, discreet and helpful with any details! The rooms are spacious, clean and comfortable. The place is calm and relaxing and they make you feel at home. We strongly recommend this place!!!