Hotel Rooms - Part 8- Great Expectations

Descriptions of Hobart Hall Hotel, in Richmond, Surrey, range from a charitable “quaint” to a more brutally honest “grotty.” I stay there occasionally, in part because it’s convenient, in part because it’s cheap, and in part because of the place’s eccentricity. I have never seen hotel management, though the two students who take turns manning reception (presumably in return for room and board) are pleasant enough. The hotel is classified as “Three Star” though certainly not on the basis of the general upkeep (leaky roof, worn furniture, dodgy television…) I feel genuine sympathy for those who book looking for Olde Worlde Charme.

What I do like about Hobart Hall is its sense of grandiose anachronism or even decay; old copies of Horse & Hound or The Telegraph litter the smoking room. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the hotel is on the banks of the Thames, nor do I object to the unadvertised free WiFi (unfortunately with all useful SMTP ports blocked.) Pete Townsend, Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall all live literally around the corner, in three separate houses.


On my most recent visit this week I was ‘upgraded’ to the Honeymoon Suite, complete with four-poster bed and enormous bathtub (not to mention the noisy space heater and the leaky toilet.)

Miss Havisham would have felt at home.