The Studio at Trout End - near Audley End

Lovely location, light and airy place to stay. Super lovely bed linen, big bath and shower. Lovely courtyard garden and just.

Nice and comfortabel livingroom and a well equiped kitchen; spacious bedroom and a large bathroom. Railway station in walking distance with regular trains to Cambridge and London Liverpool

Everything OK

Very nicely decorated

Basic kitchen cloths for wiping down surfaces had to be requested

Host is lovely. Very responsive, friendly and helpful. Property is in a great location and check/in and out was really easy. It’s dog friendly…but this is at an extra cost of £20 per dog, per stay. Bed huge and comfy. Lots of products in the bathroom which was a nice touch. Wine and popcorn on arrival.

It just wasn’t clean. The shower doors/glass hadn’t been cleaned and there was someone else’s shampoo/shower gel down it. Shower head was filthy and no shower mat. Only because hubby dropped the top off his aftershave in the bathroom did we discover the rest. As a surface clean, it’s ok. But clean it sadly isn’t and I’m gutted to be writing this. I own a cleaning business and I just don’t think the standard is acceptable. I think the host maybe needs to have a word with housekeeping. The oven had crumbs in it, so remnants of someone else’s dinner. No dishcloth or scourer. The bedroom had a pin on the floor (the type you use for clothes alterations) and I stood on it. This makes me question whether it was vacuumed or not. There was tea and coffee…but these were opened boxes and jars which makes me think they were left from previous guests. No sugar, no milk. At nearly £200 a night (including dog charge) I’d have expected more. Bring your own dishwasher tabs, and dishcloth. There is a tea towel. The only bathroom/toilet is via the master bedroom. Awkward if you’re going with anyone other than family. Also, to cross the landing you need to be fully dressed and no blinds or curtains at the window! Windows were dirty and cobwebby. Under bed had debris. Such a lovely property, and such a lovely host, but let down massively by housekeeping. For the cost this isn’t acceptable. There was mention of pastries for breakfast in an email, but I didn’t respond, so didn’t get any. That said, we did miss the first night due to personal circumstances, so they may well have been there and we weren’t. If so, I’d have appreciated this being communicated. Lastly, although the garden area is secure, it’s adjoined to the owners property, and not private. I read they had a dog, and mine are reactive pillocks, so this made me nervous. Thankfully they didn’t meet! I hate writing this, as some of it was so positive, but some not as much.