After Christmas and New Year, we needed a break. Hosting 4 children and 5 grandchildren for 2 weeks is great fun, very uplifting but exhausting. That is the price that comes with living by the seaside – even in a wet and windy winter, there is a magical attraction. But when they all went home we felt we needed some R&R ourselves.
We decided on a couple of days in Cornwall, focusing on the Eden Project and the Tate in St Ives. Where to stay? One of the ‘restaurants with rooms’ had space, so we booked online. An hour or so later I got a call from the receptionist.
‘We have a special January offer’ she said. ‘ Lunch for 2 in the restaurant, glass of champagne, welcome gift, afternoon tea, all for only £xxx’. It was an actual bargain – about half the price of a meal for two in the restaurant alone.
I said that sounded excellent, but we were committed at lunchtime on both days at Eden and St Ives. Could we do dinner instead? No – she was adamant – this was a lunchtime offer only. I appealed to her better nature. She agreed to ask a supervisor and get back to me.
In the meantime, I did a bit of research. The restaurant was open for dinner from 5.30pm, and on one of the two nights, there was plenty of early evening availability.
The following day she called back. ‘Sorry, but this is a lunchtime-only offer.’
‘What if we agreed to have a very late lunch’ I asked. ‘Would the offer still be available?’ ‘How late were you thinking?’ she said. ‘About 5.30’ I said. There was a pause. ‘I’ll see if we can accommodate you for a late lunch’ she said. ‘Would 5.30 be OK?’
It’s on Thursday this week. I’ll let you know how the meal was.
