Old Chelsea

Cosy, comfortable cottage in a great location.

Really quaint old English seaside cottage, great location and ideal for our purposes.

Not a criticism but not for people who have mobility issues, the stairs are small and ok for younger people who are able bodied.

Old Chelsea is a picture-perfect tiny cottage on a one-block-long, dead-end alley lined with flower pots of various sizes, most of them stuffed with blooms. We had no trouble retrieving the key from the lockbox and making ourselves at home. Though the kitchen is small, it is well-equipped with a stovetop, oven, microwave, washing machine and dryer in one (we used it, it worked beautifully), sink, Nespresso coffee maker, hot water boiler and toaster. The Wifi works fine, but we cannot judge the TV because we never turned it on. Downstairs (two steps below streeet level) is a cozy living room with dining area for up to four, the kitchen and the bathroom with large (but not very tall) shower (no tub). Upstairs are two bedrooms, one with a bunk bed (double below, more like single above) and the other with an oversize queen bed. Only the queen room has a clothes closet but the bunk bedroom has a big bureau and hanging space on the back of the door. This accommodation comes complete with charming owners who provide a folder and brochures and take-out menus stuffed with local info as well as local granola, tea, and crackers for you to sample, and who came to rescue us when we thought we'd lost the key (we hadn't, thank goodness). Old Chelsea is walking distance from King Henry VIII's very impressive Deal Castle, the beautiful and historic Walmer Castle and Gardens (for good walkers), the beach, downtown Deal, the train station, Sainsbury's huge grocery store, an Aldi and the Kent Museum of the Moving Image, plus lots of restaurants. We think it would be perfect for couples in good shape under the age of 60, preferably not too tall, and parents who don't mind sharing a large queen and have about two kids over the age of 8.

My husband and I are in our late 60s, he is six feet nearly three inches tall, I am 5 feet ten inches. We literally weren't a good fit for Old Chelsea. The ceilings are low and he hit his head badly once despite trying to be very careful. The bedrooms are up a high, narrow, winding staircase, which is well provided with a railing and two ropes, but is still a challenge when carrying a suitcase up or down, or when en route to the toilet in the middle of the night. To add to the challenge, there are four more steps UP to the toilet from the living room floor. These are uneven in height and hard to distinguish, especially in low light. Each of us stumbled over one of the very low steps (two out of the four) at least once. I would highly recommend either a nightlight that points up these stairs or colored tape (yellow or white) along the edges. I can also imagine that parents of young children might be very worried about the staircase to the bedrooms, so I don't think Old Chelsea would work well for them either.

The bed

The switches cuberd under stairs potential fire risk