Stay Coastal

The bathroom was very nice, but the rest of our stay was a letdown. We booked for half term with two adults and four very young children. Room 7 on the second floor felt cramped, though the kitchenette was useful. The king-size bed was comfortable and there were two singles, but nowhere for the other two children to sleep. A sofa bed was there, but it was filthy, stained and had food residue on it. It wasn't fit to sit on, let alone sleep on. One towel was stained too, so I couldn't tell whether it had been laundered. Our children have allergies. The rules said no pets, yet we later saw an invitation to bring well-behaved pets. Check-in details were helpful, but after we raised the sofa bed issue, we were told the owner would call the next day. They never did.

I won't stay there again. Those two and a half weeks were the worst I've experienced. The bed was so low it felt like sleeping on the mattress, and the shower temperature control didn't work. The TV kept freezing when I tried Netflix or YouTube. To restart it, I had to unplug it, wait a few minutes, then watch for about two minutes before it stopped again. On my day off I hoped to sleep and relax, but a fire alarm went off next door while someone was using a hair dryer. It took 43 minutes before anyone dealt with it. My calls for help weren't answered, and when someone finally came to switch it off, she didn't apologise to anyone. There were no rubbish bins in the room, only one 40-litre bin outside for the whole building, so I had to take my rubbish to work. Room cleaning, fresh towels, bedding changes and toilet paper were all scarce: my room was cleaned once, and the bedding and towels were each changed once. There was no room service. These apartments seem suited to one-night stays, not longer ones. Horrible.

We had a small problem with the shower, but it was sorted within a couple of hours. We arrived late at night and were short on towels and bedding; the staff member on the phone dealt with that quickly too. The room itself was clean, tidy and modern, just like the website photos, and the bathroom was a comfortable size. Our family room had a double bed, possibly king-size, a single and a foldaway single that my daughter found comfortable. The kitchenette was clean and had a microwave plus the crockery and cutlery needed for light meals. Room 7 is at the top of the boutique house, up several flights of stairs, with no lift. The front door's key-code pad may be hard to see if your eyesight isn't great, so I was glad to have my phone torch. There was a small damp patch above the single bed, and flaking paint landed on the bedding. It wasn't a big issue for our two nights, though it could bother people staying longer. The place makes a good base, on the same road as the Whitley Bay Metro, and you can see the sea from the corner of the bedroom window. We'd stay again. Room 5 looked great.

We were on the top floor with a sea view and were very happy with our stay. The room was lovely and extremely clean, with a fridge and microwave included. It was extremely economical too.