Victorin House

The room was musty and smelled strongly of damp, with mould in the bathroom. It hadn't been aired, and because there was no window, we had to ask twice for the rear door key. Outside at the back were a dirty mattress and broken furniture. We paid too much, though booking last minute for Victorious Festival was our choice. I wouldn't pay more than £50 a night. I also wouldn't feel entirely safe here alone as a woman, though being with my partner helped. The location was good, just a short walk to Southsea seafront, and check-in was easy and hassle-free. The bed was comfortable and we slept OK. I brought my own blanket and pillow after reading other reviews. No bed bugs in our bed! Parking was so tight we had to fold in the wing mirrors, and luckily we didn't scratch the car. While we were there, they were trying to knock part of the wall down, which was very loud.

We stayed for 6 nights with our 6-month-old baby, and the room was often very cold because the heating was centrally controlled. In the mornings and at night, our hygrometer showed around 17-18°C. The radiator wasn't working on the second day, though it was fixed later. They'd removed the thermostatic valve head, so we couldn't adjust the heat ourselves. It was quite uncomfortable and not ideal with a baby. We wouldn't stay again.

The room looked nothing like the adverts, and the one we had wasn't even shown there. There were stains everywhere and the rooms were dirty. When we asked for a different room or a refund, the staff were very rude and refused. They called us liars and said we'd got what we'd paid for. After smelling a stench from the beds, we stripped the sheets and found a huge stain of human fluids that stank and had soaked through to the other side of the mattress. They then accused us of criminal damage.

Avoid at all costs. I booked through booking.com, but was refused access to the room. They ignored me until the next day, then still charged me even though they'd agreed to a refund.