Host & Stay - 1 Coastguard Cottages

Gorgeous cottage and beautiful decor

I hadn’t realised it was on such a big hill therefore walking from the station with suitcases was a bit of a struggle! Wished it was mentioned in the write up so we knew to get a taxi. It was extremely steep.

The cottage is up a hill which took my breath away, my husband held onto me,had to stop, then carry on again. The bed was comfy and the pillows,we took the pillows from the other bedroom as we like a few pillows.the cottage is beautifully decorated, the kitchen is very narrow but had everything you needed. The Two two seater sofas were a bit low down but a cushion sorted that out,a good sized dining table and a TV. The bathroom was roomy. Also a downstairs toilet which came in handy. The views from the bathroom window were beautiful, the back garden plants were lovely to look at,and lady nextdoor flowers in her little front garden were beautiful. We had a problem with the TV, I messaged the host who was very helpful.

The shower cubicle could do with a shelf in for toiletries, not good having to bend down for shower gel etc. the shower over the bath was good,but no shower curtain around the bath. I had to wash the towels again as they didn't smell very nice,not sure what detergent they used. The garden is on a slope! No handrails the steps had slate on them which felt slippery, the garden table was at the top of the slope to the left of the neighbours gardens and the chairs were in a shed full of cobwebs and spiders,we didn't use them,not sure how we would take a hot/cold drink up there to enjoy the views. The lady next door was lovely, and there was a lovely but mischievous dog called jake who came and said hello,his owner was a lovely lady too. The key box would be better placed near the back door. Also taxi dropped us off at paradise mews, when I said this wasn't the right place,took us further up to the right place, maybe there should be better signage on the wall.

Loved the property, will definitely book and stay again , perfect cosy cottage.

Nothing

The decor of the property was beautiful, and it was pleasant to stay there. The garden and surrounding area were very picturesque. Lots of walks around the area and very close to the church Very close to town, although the walk back is tough (steep hill), it's worth it. Beautiful views on both sides of the house with the castle and gardens, the seafront, and cliffs. Very breathtaking!

We asked if we could come earlier than 4 pm, if the place was ready and we were told no. But after struggling to find the property at around 3ish, I called them, and after asking for directions, we asked if we could go in earlier. They checked and said yes, the cleaners are all done, so you can go in now... if you couldn't allow us to check in earlier by message (about 30 minutes before we called, so find it hard to believe) at least maybe message us back later to say that it was ready rather than a message saying that we can't check in earlier as cleaners will be there until 4pm to ensure the property is clean to their standards (which later in the review, becomes relevant that is isnt extensively cleaned)... We assumed, with it saying on street parking, it meant it would be relevantly close to the property. It wasn't. The drop-off location was directed to us incorrectly by a person who worked at Host and Stay because they didn't know either and thought it was the big green area. We parked there but soon realised we couldn't directly get to the property. So, we had to go round the brick wall, which endured more hills (we had two very little children with us, and Im disabled so this was difficult for us). We then had to walk down the path to find wheelie bins blocking the path. Assuming this was maybe bins had been empited recently, so we moved one to the side so we could continue walking on the communial residential path (This bit becomes relavant later...). We eventually found the property, but we had no clue where the key was. I remember seeing about it being near a shed, but I couldn't see a shed. We found a black key box on a brick wall opposite the property, so we tried that key pad. A neighbour came out and kindly directed us to the right one. Inside the outhouse at the front which, the key box was in, but it was surrounded by lots of spider webs and big spiders, which I'm glad my husband was with me, that's for sure!