1 Apse Castle Cottage - Chocolate Box Cottage, Dog-Friendly 16th Century Cottage, surrounded by Ancient Woodland in Shanklin

A small cottage but we managed to accommodate four adults, a child and a baby. Sparkling clean interior and well equipped. Good communication from Island Cottages.

No usable garden. Exterior needs cleaning of rear windows and general sweeping out. No user manual for oven range - but trial and error got us by. Dog friendly but nowhere for them (or children) to run around outside.

It was very pretty and well equipped and comfortable.

Two things were an issue with our stay. The first was that neither of the bathroom doors had locks, and the upstairs bathroom didn’t even have a latch on it to shut the door. Not the level of privacy we expected from this standard of accommodation, especially with a lively 2 year old staying with us. The other issue we had was parking. We understand that the parking area has been reduced due to the installation of the oil tank, but we were informed that there was parking available on the lane outside. The lane is very narrow and not wide enough to park without causing an obstruction, and it is unlit. My son had to park over 100 metres away, which was not safe with a 2 year old child.

Our stay was pleasant and met needs during the week stay. Overall we found the Cottage comfortable to stay in and it was in a lovely quite area. And accessible for days out . I like the pluggin night lights as it can be very dark in the college at night.

The college had a smell to it when you first went in it did feel damp inside the Cottage. the bedroom with the two single beds upstairs are a bit old and rickety and the mattresses weren't too good to sleep on. there was some areas of cleanserness that could have been cleaned better. one of the blankets smelt of dog. the tumble dryer was full of water as the tank had not been empted, no floor broom, although there was a small hoover in the cupboard, no bins in the bathroom areas. the downstairs bathroom did not have a blind so you couldn't have a bath even though part of the glass was frosted. It stated in welcome book about leaving the BBQ clean, but there wasn't one to use, only coal bags piled up under the shelter and that area needed a good clean nowhere to hang any washing. they provided an airer, which was flimsy and not adequate. The gas detection box was sat on the shelf above the fireplace and didn't appear to be working. Most of these things that I have listed are easily to be put right to make an outstanding stay.

Kitchen is nice

Small, and you can tell some facilities are cheap, for short term usage