The Apartment Company

We had a great anniversary night and were glad we chose this place. The apartment was comfortable and the staff made us feel welcome. Good connections into the city meant we could go out for a meal and drinks, then come and go as we pleased. We’ll definitely return, and I’d recommend it.

The room was spacious and very clean, with a comfortable bed. The kitchen had most things needed for a short stay, and the bathroom was nice and came with towels. The location worked well for us, just a few minutes on foot from the train station and a short walk from an asda, subway and greggs. I was a little cold in the room, and the one I had didn’t have a hair dryer. Those were the only negatives. The lady who helped us was lovely and gave us the WIFI code. Thanks for the stay, I’d come again.

The only real upside was the large apartments, which worked for our group. The place is badly in need of refurbishment: the furniture was ancient, the floors sticky, and there was white paint on the towel in my room. We stayed as part of a stag group, booked through an agency, and had a similar check-in experience to other reviewers, with people in pyjamas asking for a cash deposit. I know it’s a budget option, but I expected better. At about 1am on the first night, after we’d returned to the apartment, the fire alarm started blaring. Teenagers in another flat were having a full-on rave, but the problem wasn’t that their noise set off the alarm. It was that nobody could turn it off. We checked the rooms and corridors properly and found no sign of a fire. The staff were just as confused as we were. The deafening alarm continued for nearly two hours. Since there was no fire, the fire service wasn’t called, and the company staff didn’t know the code to deactivate it. While we waited two hours for an engineer, a qualified electrician in our group offered to look at the alarm box, and staff asked him to do so. He ended up taking the box off the wall. That was clearly a mistake, but everyone was frustrated. When the engineer finally arrived and deactivated the system, it became clear we’d be charged for the damage. I thought losing our £320 deposit would cover it. The next day, the manager called to demand another £300 for the callout and damage, plus another deposit, and said we’d have to find somewhere else if we didn’t pay. The amount seemed far more than the fairly simple work should have cost, and didn’t take into account that the alarm problem came from staff not being trained to handle it, not from our group setting it off. We voted to pay the plainly inflated charge so we could get on with the weekend and move on. I’d tell others to look elsewhere. A hostel in the town centre would be a better choice.

The apartments were clean and lovely, and we got a warm welcome from friendly staff. There are good facilities nearby and good transport links to the city centre. I’d recommend staying here and would return on a future trip to Newcastle.