A feature, not a business

The Observatory of Thornveil House Hotel and Casino Resort is presented as a feature of the property rather than as an inducement. The room is open to adult guests of the hotel on the days the duty observer keeps it open; the hotel does not host wagers, does not hold accounts, does not operate a gambling platform, and does not take any consideration in respect of play. The Trust does not hold an Operating Licence under the Gambling Act 2005 and has never applied for one.

The Trust’s standing position is that the room is a restored star-watch room of historic interest within a working downland country hotel. Where guests of the hotel choose to play in the room, they do so among themselves and not against the house. The Trust does not derive revenue from play in the room, in any form, in any year.

When the room is open

The Observatory is opened by the duty observer from seven in the evening until midnight on the days the observer judges the room is being kept in good order. The observer will close the room early on any night the observer judges it is not being kept in good order, and will close it at once at any guest’s request. The room is closed on the eve of the January trustees’ meeting and on the working day after.

Eighteen and older

The Observatory is opened only to guests aged eighteen and older. The duty observer will ask for proof of age on first entry where there is any doubt; acceptable proof is a passport, a photographic driving licence, or a PASS-card. Younger guests are welcome on the chalk path, at the star-platform, in the refectory, and in the small reading room beside the south door at any reasonable hour. The duty observer does not entertain guests in the Observatory.

A request not to enter

Any guest of the hotel may, at any time, ask in writing to be excluded from the Observatory for any period of months or years. The duty observer will hold the letter in the standing register, will not open the room to the guest during the period stated, and will write to the guest two weeks before the period ends to confirm that the exclusion is to lift. A guest may ask for the exclusion to be extended at any time and is asked to do so in writing; the observer does not, by standing rule of the Trust, accept verbal renewal.

A guest may also ask the observer to exclude a named third person on the observer’s standing register, where the guest has reasonable cause. The observer will hold the letter, will write to the named person, and will then close the room to that person on the next opening. The observer will not act on anonymous letters.

If you are troubled by play

If you are troubled by play — your own, or a friend’s, or a relation’s — the Trust asks that you call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 (free, twenty-four hours), or visit gamcare.org.uk for written support. The duty observer will hold a quiet word with any guest who asks for one in the small reading room or on the chalk path, and will help with onward arrangements where it is wanted; the observer does not counsel and does not pretend to.

A short list, kept in the bookcase

The Trust holds to six principles, kept in the bookcase at the head of the south stair and reviewed each January: the room is a feature, not a business; the room is for adult guests of the hotel and no other person; the observer’s word is the standing word in the room; a quiet limit kept is a kept limit; if the room is troubled, the room is closed; and if a guest is troubled, the helpline is called.