 I contacted the hotel to request i pay for the room before we arrived i was informed that i was unable to pay before arrival by reservations then told that i would need to fill out a 3rd party form to enable them to take payment as they could not do this over the telephone AND FINALLY when they had received this form the reservations team member was unable to take the payment as their system did not allow customer not present payments This nightmare went back and forth for 3 days before i finally gave up and paid on arrival When checking in i requested at the front desk to make a full payment and any further charges would be paid when we checked out The receptionist took full payment for both rooms for the full 2 nights Only when we checked out i was informed that this was only AUTHERISED and that the full payment of 2 rooms for 2 nights the balance i had previously paid was due After a brief conversation with the manager he confirmed that a full payment had been autherised and would be completed upon check out Apparently this is a regular mis communication between reception staff and guests So i would be aware that if you are requesting to pay on arrival you will be stunned into silence when they request you pay the full amount AGAIN upon departure 
 we informed staff that we where staying for my partners fathers 63rd birthday they very kindly left 1 bottle of wine and 1 prosecco in the room with a hand written card such a lovely touch 