Manatee Palms

One of the things that a person expects when booking a Bed and Breakfast is "charm" and hospitality. Unfortunately this place had none of either. While our accommodations were clean this place offered none of the charm and hospitality that one would expect. When staying at a bed and breakfast one of the benefits is the personal touch that is common with B&B's and their proprietors. That is why most folks choose that route rather than the expectedly less personal touch from a hotel. The check in process is a chore, form the online experience to the actual check in on day of arrival. There are so many rules and instructions that you have to follow during your visit that it was simply uncomfortable. From the many number combinations that you need memorize to enter through the driveway gates and the pedestrian gate, to the complicated instructions for using the TV, the towels in the bathroom and the ordering system for the dining options. Waaay too many instructions for what should be simple expectations and amenities. Finding the check in office was a real chore. Despite the very extensive instructions for directions to the check in office, (and everything else for that matter) we had to enlist the assistance of a stranger on site to show us where to check in. I mean it, there were an absurd amount of written instructions for everything! I felt more like I was checking into a military academy than a B&B or hotel. One could overlook the rundown exterior look of the place if there was someone operating the facility that was hospitable and welcoming. While they weren't exactly rude, they were far from welcoming. There was no effort to introduce themselves as owners, or even simply the manager of the property. The experience seemed very cold and uninviting from the moment we checked in. Even before we checked in a group of people were leaving and they exclaimed, without prompting..."this place sucks" as they got in their car to leave the property. I wouldn't say that it sucked...it just wasn't a true B&B experience. Zero personal touch and no effort to make their guests feel welcome. Now, I know that some folks may come back year after year or on a regular basis. They may have had the chance to experience a welcoming attitude from the owners/management, but as first time visitors we felt more like we were inconveniencing them. One of the reasons for going back to a place is because you feel like friends or family. We had no such feeling here. Far from it. The TV is completely reliant on streaming. That in itself is not a bad thing. I stream everything at my own residence and I understand how it all works. That is if it works...which it did NOT at this property. The streaming was so slow that I had to resort to using my cellphone for watching TV. I told the woman in charge, who other than the dining room server was the only person that we personally interacted with (I would know her name if she would have introduced herself like most small property proprietors do but we never had that pleasure) She was all business and no pleasure. Not mean or rude, just nothing. I mentioned this to her at breakfast the first morning. 9:15am to be exact. That evening, when we were in bed, AFTER 9pm, we hear a knock on the door with someone saying he was here to fix the TV. Twelve hours after I mentioned it and after we were gone all day, when they could have come in and addressed the problem at anytime...we get the knock after 9pm. We were showering at the time and getting ready to call it a night, so we turned him away without opening the door. We certainly did not expect a repairperson twelve hours after we informed them of the problem, and certainly not that late in the evening without some sort of notice. It was startling and a bit frightening at that hour to be honest. The grounds were decent enough. A small pool and some lounge chairs and tables throughout the property. It looked very dated around the grounds and the exterior of the buildings. The guest room was pretty standard. Nice towels, but very clear instructions on how and where to use what type of towels. Pool versus bathing, make up versus hand towels etc. Waay too much written instruction for everything. It was ridiculous. Staying here wasn't horrible. It just wasn't pleasurable either. Too bad, because it could have been a lot better feel if there was simply some energy put into making guest feel welcome, instead of instructions everywhere that makes you feel like you are in an environment other than a B&B. Someone needs to remind these folks that they are in the "hospitality" business and not the "hostility" business. I expect that I will get some type of response that this is not a B&B. That is possible as they did offer three meals a day. I am not sure how it all worked because we only had breakfast on the first day. and did not use the meal options at any other time. I suppose that if we would have read all of the extensive instructions on how and when to order your food and what time to show up at the dining room we might have tried dining there again. But the breakfast burrito was served so spicy that my wife could not eat it, and frankly, the ridiculous instructions for dining and ordering turned us off more than the poor breakfast. There are only a handful of guest rooms, so I classify this as a B&B and expected the same level of hospitality that one finds at most B&Bs. To be clear the young lady working as a server on the weekends in the dining room was very nice. The same can not be said about the woman who seemed to run the place the weekend that we were there. Would I stay here again? NO. Would I recommend to others? NO.

Nice

This is an honest review. Manatee Palms refuses to tell potential guests verbally that the owner control the temperature in the entire house. You find out after paying hundreds of dollars to stay there. The owner covers herself by adding this important information in the smallest of print on the bottom of your guests registration . She will not tell you during a conversation with you prior to you handing over your hard earned money because she knows guests will go elsewhere and stay in a hotel and spend less and sleep much more comfortably! We stayed in room B11 it was scorching HOT in this room we couldn't sleep at all! I begged the owner to please lower the TEMPERATURE in that room . I tried to do it myself and that's how I found out that she kept the fact that this owner controls from her side of the house your level of sleeping comfort . She maintains the house at 72 degrees. Florida in March was was over 80 degrees when we arrived. Room B11 the Ac unit displayed a P2 code on the screen The compressor was overheating or the refrigerant, the drain pan it could have many things wrong with it. Basically the AC unit in room B11 was not working properly. Please Google P2 error code I sent the owner an email with the picture and proof the Ac unit was not working properly and she still refused to give us just a refund on the room. If money keeping all of our money was not her only motivation the owner of Manatee Palms would have had the common sense to see we were not trying to con her to refund us, we were legitimately suffering all night long in room B11!!!! We ate dinner there and I asked to pay for dinner plus the servers tip. We are GOOD people. Please anyone thinking of staying at the Manatee Palms just ask the owner if it gets to hot in my room can I adjust the temperature myself for my personal comfort. When she says no then you decide for yourself to stay there or go somewhere else where you can adjust the Ac to your liking. Before you give this Bed and Breakfast any money please ask that question.

Our biggest disappointment was that our room had no closet or clothes hanging place, also no hangers.

Great quiet place. Will be back

Had a marvelous stay. Amazing breakfasts!! We were a LITTLE confused on some of the instructions.

Relaxing but my room was sparse.

Nice room. Stairs. Thanks to help hauling bag upstairs

Nice! If you like nostalgia this is the place.