Frustration

On Sunday we rang our friends in Harrogate with the suggestion that we might visit for a couple of days. We haven’t seen these friends for a few years, not since the Fox had a stroke in 2011. The Fox finally feels he is up to making the, for us, long drive over to Yorkshire. Our suggestion was greeted with joy across the way. All seemed set for a pleasant weekend ahead.

I then tried to sort out some accommodation for us. The first hotel I tried was fully booked. They could try their Leeds hotel, but that was further away than we wanted to be.

I tried a second hotel. This time I was told they had an accessible suite for the Friday night but not the Saturday. It really isn’t worth doing such a drive for one day. I will need a couple of nights to cope with the drive. I suspect these days the same applies to the Fox.

I enquire if there’s something happening in Harrogate that weekend. It seems there’s a Crime Writers’ Weekend. It apparently is usually very popular. My heart sinks.

I try two more hotels. Neither hotel even answers the phone. I abandon the effort until Monday. My conclusion is to try just ringing the Tourist Information Centre (TIC) to see if they can sort out some accessible accommodation for us.

So, yesterday, I start by ringing the two hotels I’d tried the night before. Same answerphone message on one – no-one available to answer the phone at the moment try again later. I begin to wonder if this hotel has ceased trading. I’m sure the recession will have hit Harrogate as it has throughout Britain.

I try the second hotel. Once more it’s a hotel that’s fully booked.

So now I try the TIC. The first thing I discover is the phone number has changed. I hastily try to get the new number down. By the time I’ve found pen & paper, half the number has gone by. I try the number again. I get all the digits but did I get them right? I ring a third time. I’ve got it. Why couldn’t they have just have repeated the number to save me so much re-dialling?

Anyhow, I ring the new number. It’s temporarily unavailable. How temporary is temporary? There’s no indication.

By lunchtime, I try the nearest TIC I can locate to Harrogate i.e. Knaresborough. Their number, too, has been changed.

I try their new number. All their phones are busy so try the Harrogate TIC. There is a link to the Harrogate TIC via Harrogate Borough Council. The phone rings. But no, it’s another answerphone saying all the lines are busy. However, this one can at least take a message. I leave my name, phone number & a brief statement of my query.

When there’s still no call back by mid-afternoon, we decide to go out, partly to buy some salmon for dinner, partly to see if our local TIC can have more luck. We get a more up-to-date brochure, but when they ring they get the same runaround. We retreat to the pub to regain some sanity.

When we get home, I notice the answerphone is flashing. It’s Harrogate TIC. They had finally got around to ringing at 4.10pm. They would try again around 5pm. I get the food prepared for dinner while we wait for the phone to ring again. They duly ring. They are happy to locate something for us, but it will probably be today, Tuesday, before they can ring back as they were about to close for the day. Fair enough.

So this morning I wait once more.

Somewhere in the midst of all this frustration the joy of having a weekend away & seeing friends of long standing once more is dissolving. We hadn’t expected it to be quite so hard to organise one disabled access room, at whatever price, in a place the size of Harrogate. But seemingly it is.

I continue to wait. I’m half-expecting to hear the nearest place they can find is Leeds. It’s debatable if we really want to be that far out, I’m also half-expecting to find the weekend away is going to have to be cancelled, which would be a pity. We liked the idea of seeing our friends once more & would hate to have to disappoint them.