Beautiful Boutique Apartment for Two

Very clean and well stocked with all equipment you need for the stay

It can be a bit cramped due to the sloped ceiling

Location

Amenities

It was incredibly quiet. So it was easy to relax and sleep at night

There was nothing to dislike.

Well equipped flat, with plenty of tea and coffee provided. Smart TV which is still unusual enough to be surprising. Convenient location just three bus stops on the number 1 route from Newcastle central station, or a 15-minute walk. Quiet location on a side street. We were unlucky to get a garret flat where we kept banging our heads against the diagonal rafters, and it was a struggle to get into bed, but that was not a big issue and it became quite funny and just part of the experience.

If I had known about the hosts' systems and requirements before I had paid the full fee in advance, I would have chosen somewhere else. First they required ID verification (photo of passport), and a separate registration on their own website, and credit card details for a cash deposit. The deposit was mentioned on Booking.com at the time of booking, but not the other stuff, as I recall. Maybe they have been troubled with delinquent clients, but one of the things I value in Booking.com is the ease of use, and this sort of thing puts me off. Then the automatic messages started to arrive every few days, usually telling me to do the things I had already done. These messages were long and complicated, taking a lot of time to plough through, and though they never gave me new information they were unsettling to get. I took this up with the hosts and was told not to worry, everything was in order, it was just an automated system. But the system kept sending me the messages, about a dozen during the month of July, and it became quite worrying. If I had known for certain I could just ignore them it would have been less of an irritation, but I had to read them every time and they were always long and complicated, and left me feeling unsure whether there was anything new I needed to do. Finally the instructions for check-out were off-putting. Phrases like 'failure to do so may incur a penalty' and 'will result in a £100 fine' make a sour impression. This is basically a house routinely divided into a number of apartments, and there is nothing wrong with the accommodation, but they really need to get their communications and IT sorted out. I believe this is the first time I have experienced so much fuss with a booking through Booking.com.