Our City Apartments Shaftesbury House

New Street station lights made the room feel like daytime in the middle of the night, even with the blinds shut. I won't be coming back. There seemed to be dog hair all over the bedding, and the hot water was cold. The radiators hissed all night, so it was either sleep in the cold or barely sleep at all. Upstairs floorboards creaked whenever people walked around, and I couldn't get any rest until they went to bed.

The city centre location is hard to beat, which is the only reason I gave two stars instead of one. The photos suggest a luxury apartment, but the place I saw was basic, dated and worn. I managed well enough for one night, though I think I'd have been frustrated staying longer.

The best part of staying at Our city apartments was leaving. It's badly maintained, and I won't return. Being next to the train station is handy, but that was about the only positive. I was there for a work trip for a couple of days. The welcome pack came across as passive aggressive, and the property wasn't particularly clean. The internet was painfully slow, about 0.9mbs, and barely usable. The central heating didn't work for my entire stay. The shutter wouldn't open to let in daylight, while a huge John Lewis LED screen outside the window lit the room up at night. The window also wouldn't open properly, so fresh air was limited. Worst of all, the walls and ceiling were paper thin. I could hear every step from the neighbours above, and got only four hours' sleep each night. On top of that, people kept interrupting me to do work in the apartment. Five times in two days, someone wanted access to check various things. That should have been done before I checked in. When I contacted the property about everything, they didn't apologise and said there would be no compensation, even though the place was mediocre at best and not as advertised. I won't stay here again, and I'd strongly advise people reading this not to either. If you found this post helpful, please upvote it so more people see it.

The bins were already full when we arrived, the toilet was broken, and some cutlery was missing. The pieces that were there were dirty, so I even had to go out and buy a potato masher. I'd booked the apartment for a weekend away with my boyfriend and planned to cook for him. It was an awful stay, and I wish we'd stayed home. Wouldn't recommend it.