Arma Short Stays - Iffley Road

The bed was awful. It was too small, the mattress was thin and worn, and the frame squeaked so much that we didn’t sleep at all. At least our room didn’t face the street, which would’ve made things even worse. The rest was fine: small but clean, with what you need, including a microwave, kettle, and hairdryer. Check-in and checkout are self-service, so I can’t really comment on the staff. It’s also close to the city and lots of nice restaurants and pubs. Please sort out those beds.

The room was tiny and felt more like a cheap, cramped flat than a proper guest house. My wife couldn’t sleep on the uncomfortable mattress and had back pain the next day; the couch was just as bad, unusable and uncomfortable to sit on. Getting in was frustrating too. The access code was buried in a long, disorganized email instead of being clearly marked, so after a long travel day I stood outside for nearly 20 minutes searching for it. The Booking.com listing said parking was available but didn’t say it was paid, which was misleading and disappointing. This was an uncomfortable stay with poor communication. We won’t return or recommend it. I usually leave positive reviews or none at all, but Rasa Guest House was so frustrating that I had to write this.

The rooms were cramped, dingy, and dusty. I started sneezing for ten minutes straight when I walked in. Amenities were limited, the floors creaked, and you could feel the mattress springs. The Wi-Fi was so slow it was nearly unusable for modern needs. Check-in was horrid. We’d paid for early check-in, but the code to retrieve the keys didn’t work until 4pm. I called customer service, which is offshore, but the poor connection made them hard to understand. They kept insisting the access key should work, even though I’d already tried the exact same code they gave me. The poor internet made this easily the most frustrating check-in I’ve ever had. RasavSayang also made things difficult: the instructions were buried in a wall of text, and the code was in the middle of a flood of messages. Google calls this a 3-star hotel, which is generous at best. I wouldn’t recommend this accommodation at all.

The room was horrible, the bed uncomfortable, and it didn’t look like the pictures. Water leaked in the bathroom, and the cheap vinyl sheet used for the tile became so slippery when wet that I nearly fell. The room also wouldn’t lock properly. The host, an elderly man with a foreign accent who was at the property, was rude and not hospitable. I asked a normal guest question about paying to use the laundry, but he mocked me instead. There weren’t clear payment instructions when I read through everything, and contacting customer service was complicated and took a long time. The price wasn’t even the cheapest. I’ve never left a bad review before, but this was my worst experience. Totally disappointed.