Daisy Haven in Southampton

Nice and cozy

Small drive

1) Near to the University of Southampton which was the main reason we booked this place. 2) There is no need for street parking as we could park in the small space in front of the house. 3) Shops and eateries just a street away and within walking distance. 4) Host was generous with the provision of free coffee/tea, packets of oatmeal and cookies.

1) Host required ID to be sent via WhatsApp before arrival, a highly unusual request. 2) No dining table, making it a challenge to have a comfortable breakfast or sit-down meal. 3) Master bedroom - this has an attached bathroom but the shower cubicle is tiny, with hardly any space to turn or bend down. It’s ok not to have a wardrobe, but at least there should be some hooks or rails for hanging clothes. The room lighting is poor. 4) Washing machine worked well but there was no separate dryer. Suggest the host provide some drying racks. 5) There seemed to be heaters in different rooms but we couldn’t get any to work.

Positive feedback: Communication with the management team was good, they fixed an issue we had with the kettle very promptly and supplied us with a couple of extensions leads for the bedrooms. The beds were nice and comfy, we all slept pretty well. The labels around the kitchen were very helpful, and the little touches of the hot drinks, jams, sweeties etc were lovely and a nice touch. We liked the little games, and played the chess/ draughts and twister. Nice fun touch. Bedding and towels were nice and clean (however I think your cleaner put a shake and vac inside all the beds which made my mums skin a bit sensitive.) The whole property was comfy, clean and tidy. Overall we enjoyed our stay and I would certainly stay here again. Recommended for a short stay.

A couple of cheap home improvements would vastly improve the experience: An attachment for both showers to make them sit a bit higher on the walls would be much more practical. (I am only 5ft4 and had to bend backwards a lot to fit under the shower to wash my hair.) Anyone taller than 5ft would really struggle. (My 4ft9 sister was fine and thought it was funny that our relatively short family couldn't fit under the showers 🤣) A mirror that looks at your face or, maybe a full length mirror in each room would be very helpful as the 1 small mirror in the single room, only looks at the floor or at the ceiling but not central at your face. And with a house full of ladies trying to get ready 1 small mirror and a small bathroom mirror wasn't very practical. A strainer/ sieve in the kitchen to drain pasta/ rice/ water out of pans would be very helpful. The arm chairs are comfy, however there is a rip in one of the sides which looks scruffy. Maybe some arm chair covers? These improvements would be relatively easy and cheap to do. The parking out front is very small, only enough room for 1 large car at an angle, or if you have a very short car you'd probably be ok. There is parking down the road in 2 areas, however it is a residential permit only or limited to 2 hours parking between 10am-6pm. With 2 larger cars we had to try to navigate this.

Close to the university, comfortable beds and excellent bedding. House was very clean, good selection of cereals, hot drinks and toiletries for use.

The appearance of the house - student living at its worst! The windows need replacing as the house is absolutely freezing, the heat is going straight out the windows that don't close properly. The overall house needs a woman's touch - somewhere to hang clothes in all the bedrooms, a tidy up of the back garden as there is an old half caravan there rotting away with mattresses and lord knows whatever else. The curtains are hanging off the windows. There is a smell of something in the whole house - thought smoke to begin but heaven knows what the smell is. Wardrobe was painted white at the front and the paint splattered at the sides. Get a woman in to spruce this place up and it will be acceptable then