Like various businesses in Stamford, our car park had been filling with people not using the hotel and our guests were sometimes struggling to park, which we didn’t think was good enough for them, so we installed a car parking system and accompanying signage to alleviate the problem.   

The car park is now run by a separate contractor and only those who park for more than 10 minutes without registering their registration number with us are liable to any fines, all of which are collected and kept by the contractor at no financial benefit to the hotel. 

THE WAY IT WORKS:

The car park management system consists of one sign on entry to the car park which says ‘Permit holders only. See car park signs for terms and conditions’.  

There are many signs posted at regular intervals around the car park, letting everyone know they can park for free simply by entering their registration number on the touch screens inside the premises. There is no charge. This is all you have to do to avoid the chance of a fine.   

Entering your reg details automatically generates an electronic permit (there is no physical permit given).   

These touch screen tablets are located directly by the front door at the William Cecil and also at the Bull & Swan for those visiting the pub who use the William Cecil car park for their vehicle.  

The vehicle registration only needs to be entered once per visit, and at either the William Cecil OR the Bull & Swan. If you visit both locations, you only need to enter your registration in one location.  

There are several internal signs right by the door and throughout the hotel, reminding people to enter their vehicle registration number – and the team remind guests both on their arrival and when serving them.  

There is also a 10-minute grace period for the car park should you drive in and change your mind about parking. If you are in the car park for less than 10 minutes you will not get a fine.  

If  any guests get sent a fine in error when they have entered their vehicle registration, they can have this completely cancelled by the car park company when they show them a receipt for their purchase at either the William Cecil or the Bull & Swan. Because it’s run by a 3rd party, we unfortunately don’t have the means to do this ourselves, but please get in touch if this appeal doesn’t work as it should.  

If  any guests get sent a fine because they didn’t enter their vehicle registration into the tablet, the fine gets reduced to £20 by the car park company when they show them their receipt. Please speak to the hotel if this happens – to help people get used to the new system, we have been providing credit to use in the hotel to help mitigate this the first time it happens, as we are unable to physically refund this ourselves.  

If any guests visit us regularly, please do get in touch and we can look to support you, so you don’t have to enter your reg every time.  

It’s important to stress that we haven’t done this with any intention to benefit financially, but simply to ensure our very valued guests have somewhere to park when they visit. People can and have always been able to continue using the car park as much as they like, for free. All they need do is enter their vehicle registration number in one of the tablets.  

Thank you from all the team at William Cecil for your understanding and support,