This house is in prime central beach front location. It close to beach, swimming pool, supermarket and museum. It has 2 large bedrooms. One bedroom face to beach and has beautiful seaview. It has comfortable queen size beds and leather couch. It provide all towels and normal household needs. It has a garage under the house for extra fee.
The apartment was great - very spacious, everything available that we could have needed. The location is beautiful and super convenient to get everywhere. Dave was a pleasure to deal with. He was very responsive with all our questions.
Great location within walking distance from city.
The apartment is as listed and is cosy and warm.
Host replies to correspondence quickly.
Would highly recommend.
Great location. Walking distance to many cool places like museum. Noisy place but itâs because itâs right by water and itâs a great place to hang out.
Poor communication with host. Gave us wrong apt number with no apology. Apt didnât feel fresh/clean, it was shabby. We felt unable to stay in these conditions so had to find alternative place to stay.
The location is fantastic and, for young adults just wanting a convenient place to crash, this is perfect. Unfortunately for a family who wanted to cook here and spend a couple of evenings in as well as going out - this wasn't ideal. The old-fashioned electric cooker had tin foil under the rings and in the oven which wasn't very clean at all. There was very little by way of kitchen equipment. I think the photos on the website are all quite old too as the leather sofa is now sunken with sunken arms, there's no rug or wall decoration in the living room and overall decoration could do with a freshen-up. I also think the front bed mattress may have bedbugs as my legs were covered with over 100 bites after the first night - I slept in with my daughter for the last 2 nights in the back bedroom. We did also choose the property based on the fact it had parking. At time of booking there was no mention that this would be at an extra cost. As I say, if you just want somewhere to crash, you could not find a better place for location at a reasonable price but for families, I'd not recommend it.
Location (ease of walking to city and being near the water) was really great, but it also means a bit of noise. If the windows were sealed the noise would improve but more importantly if you stay in winter it wouldn't be so cold!! The curtains move in the wind. We arrived at 8pm and the property was FREEZING. The panel heaters fought a losing battle and the oil heater in the back bedroom due to its placement (in a nook) the thermostat would think it was warm and just turn off all night. The ceilings are really high, 3 metre stud, so any warm air goes up..... Thank goodness for electric blankets!!! The description says three beds and shows photos of three beds, one is the same bed just different angle with different cushions, there are TWO beds. The floor under the shower is dodgey, you feel the plastic of the shower base move when you stand on it. The second evening we were back around 8 but as we'd already been warming the place earlier in the day it wasn't so bad. The sheets and towels are starting to feel quite well worn (didn't get that clean sheet feeling when getting into bed the first night).
Maybe more suited in summer time.
Suitable for no-frills travellers - iconic location but loud and basic - 3 stars at best
Book carefully. Suits no-frills travellers, younger travellers looking for a bed after a night on Courtenay Place. I am sure people will have a great time here with expectations managed.
Pros:
- location is A++. On lively and famous Oriental Parade and a short walk to town. Great for accessing the city.
- tidy for its old age. Clean linen
- responsive host for any issues
Cons:
What do I say here?
- right on Oriental Parade with no soundproofing. A Prius taxi driving at at 40kph sounds like a Boeing 747. In summer the beach is heaving until 10pm.
- very basic apartment. An old colonial house that time has forgotten, bar renovations every fifty years. The last one was probably fifty years ago. An old underbench mini dishwasher is a curioisity, but not useable
- hot in summer. Be careful in winter - likely to be cold (although I was a summer guest).
- uncomfortable old bed mattresses. I wouldnât be surprised if the mattresses are as old as the house!
- only the most basic amenities. We didnât have dishwashing liquid but bought and left some
- to rub salt into the wound we had a painter at our windows on the first night until 7:30pm. Paint scraping is not the nicest introduction although unlikely to happen to you
As I say, this may well suit practical people unfazed by the noise and who are looking to put their head down at the end of the night. A couple of beers or a bottle of vodka might help if you are that kind of traveller.