Ava Residence

Sonny, the owner, was extremely helpful, from the original booking through my messing him around and finally arriving. The rooms are simple, the price is great, and a taxi to the centre was only about £4. I stayed one night and felt comfortable here. It’s an ideal place for that, and I’ll be back in a heartbeat.

We left within an hour or two of arriving, although we’d booked for a day festival. Comments from taxi drivers and several barmen and women about how rough the area was made us feel unsafe, especially with the thought of walking back late. We couldn’t agree even a partial refund and ended up paying a lot for a last-minute Hilton. The room and building had already left us uncomfortable. There were shopping tags in the drawers and someone’s shirt in the wardrobe, the mattress was barely 10cm thick, and the walls were so thin we could hear people using the bathroom, running water and plugging things into the walls. The place felt unkept and unwelcoming, from the stark, cheap-looking front door to the dingy, dark hall, with carpets lifting at the corners. The manager, who took us to the room, was very nice, but that didn’t change our gut feeling. As others have said, the area seemed very rough: neighboring buildings had bars on their windows, and taxi drivers sounded concerned, with many unwilling to go near at night. We also heard that from several barmen and women during the weekend.

The manager was friendly and really helpful, and we had a good-sized double room with a nice powerful shower. It’s about a 30-minute walk to the town centre, or a five-minute Uber or taxi ride. The property is a bit outdated, but AVA residence works if you want somewhere reasonably cheap and cheerful, without frills or high expectations.

The bedrooms are quite aged and the bed felt a bit hard to me, but the bathroom in my room was better than some I’ve seen in 4-5 star hotels. It’s basic but functional, and I’d recommend it for the value.