The Apartment, 24 West End Terrace, Winchester

The customer service was outstanding and Emma was always only just a message away. Very clean apartment, comfortable bed, early check in was granted. Great location with only a short walk (hilly but not a problem for me) to town. The street was quiet at night but in the daytime one could hear people and cars passing by outside. There is a patio but with little privacy because the owners live in the building as well, as mentioned below. Permit parking is available.

Sadly this set up did not work for me. The owners live upstairs, so this ‘apartment’ is basically just part of their house. Hence the connecting door in the kitchen area. I was not worried about the door or anyone coming in but from haven stayed in hotels before with connecting a door, I knew the noise would be an issue with a connecting door in the ‘apartment’. Although it apparently leads to the owners’ staircase and not to a bedroom, one could still hear the owners upstairs. The woman talking on the phone could be heard. The man shouting at the kids could also be heard. (Arguing with teenage daughters!!) Not to mention footsteps and people sneezing and coughing. Which is allowed in one’s home but I don’t want to stay in a place where I can hear everything that goes on upstairs. I did not realise until after it was too late to cancel, that the owners live upstairs. Had I known this ‘apartment’ was part of a family’s home, I would never have booked. I don’t want to listen to a family upstairs shouting at their kids. It just felt like there was very little privacy. I also heard slamming doors from upstairs. The owners should keep the noise to a minimum when they have paying guests staying in part of their house. I noticed other reviews on Booking mentioned the shouting as well, so this was clearly not just a one off when I stayed there. The bathroom was very small (part of the bedroom) and the sink was too small to use. I had to use the kitchen sink instead. There was also a bad smell in the bathroom in the mornings. The front door lock has issues. The 9:00 AM check out is way too early, in my opinion. The shower cabin was very small and I felt the rates were too high for a set up like this, which is basically just a section of the owner’s house. Nice house and area but the fact that the owners live upstairs, did sadly not work for me. No fault to Emma who was wonderful.

The apartment was very well appointed and had every thing we needed. Very comfortable especially the bed. The hosts were helpful. Winchester is a lovely city.

I had ticked 'parking' and although a permit is issued to park on the street getting a spot is very difficult. This made it difficult to go out for dinner as you were nervous you would lose your parking place.

The property was quiet and convenient and very clean.

Very comfortable bed

There needed to be a curtain over the entrance door to control draughts The bathroom is extremely small We could not use the hob as my husband has a pacemaker