...sometimes, maybe too tight.
There was some uncertainty with the length of my stay, so I paid for three nights in advance and said that it might be necessary to make it four days.
I needed four days for the assignment in the nearby paper mill so I just left on the fourth day's morning saying "To the Mines!" or something like that. I left everything in the room, except my computer.
I was very surprised when I get a phone call from the mill's upper management saying that I should pay for my hotel - or... This was my first visit to this mill for more than five years and the management didn't know me very well. Their impression didn't really improve from this incident. But it is OK now.
I then realized that one of the problems with this hotel is the lack of trust in their guests. There are little messages about how not to use the elevator, not to use the TV set (rather don't do anything because the "box" may get confused) and other messages about just everything you shall not do.
Trust is essential in society. George Orwell's 1984 and Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" are nightmare tales about what happens in a society that lacks trust. The Cumberland is far from that, but some thinking before complicating the guest's lives could be in order. It would have been very easy to just go and check if I really had left the hotel or not. But, no - it was easier to call my customer and make me lose quite a big chunk of credibility.
Ann did apologize, yes. But apologies cannot undo what has been broken.
Otherwise, I like this kind of tradition and culture carriers. I have stayed in soo many shiny anonymous hotels with lack of service that I appreciate these odd little hotels that still are managed by private persons. Floors creak, doors give off interesting sounds and there are level differences that tell about additions, repairs or just plain age. The refurbishes have been well carried out and my room (108) had a very fine bath-room and a good bed. Parking is directly in the yard, before the entrance, and it is free.
I have two recommendations:
1. Think/check before you act (like calling important people about trivialities)
2. Book the hotel if you need to stay in the Workington area. It is price-worthy.