Old Vic Theatre

This accommodation has potential to be a charming and convenient little place. The staff were lovely and hardworking in the extreme heat. Its downfall was that it is extremely poorly maintained, not seeming to be any fault of the cleaning staff, but likely due to poor maintenance management. The carpets needed professional cleaning, not just a hoover. They were filthy. Luckily our room itself smelled fresh, but the corridors stunk of all sorts, including cigarette smoke, which is off putting for non smokers. The amenities were good, including a fridge which included some milk, which we returned to reception only because we don’t drink dairy, but the man managing seemed to give a hard time to the staff for this. In general, management seemed to be struggling and blaming the staff. There was a bathroom on the floor above us which I made use of to wash my hands while my partner was using the washroom in our room. It could be a lovely touch as a spare (shared) bathroom, giving a cozy guesthouse feeling, especially for families, but it wasn’t clean sadly. The room was cluttered with unneeded furniture that we did put our stuff on, only because it was in the front of plenty of other space to put our things on. The managing man did offer to remove it for us but there was no point then as we were only there two nights. Without that clutter and with a clean carpet, it would be an ideal place close to the beach and shops. The building and rooms have lots of hidden character.

My husband and I arrived at Brooklyn house on Friday 24the July. We had approx 2.5hrs drive. There was no one on reception to check us in at approx 6pm. After ringing bell twice I finally tracked Maxine down who came to check us in. No eye contact was made between Maxine and my husband just me and she seemed quite 'cold'. She showed us to our room after going through everything and also asked what time we would like breakfast the following morning. We got to breakfast at 9am and again Maxine went through the process, told us to choose a table which was already set up and she would be over to take our breakfast order. We were left to our own devices and 40 mins later after hearing her greet other residents and asking them how their last evenings had been and serving other residents who had come in after us, I decided to get up and give her our breakfast order. No apology received by her. Although the breakfast was delicious, apart from the fact that my husband's scrambled eggs and salmon should have come with toast, we didn't even bother to mention. We both said we would never stay here again because of the unfriendly nature we had received on our check-in and breakfast. However, all was redeemed on our 2nd day this morning. Maxine was not there but we had the fortune of meeting Ana, a wonderful person who took our breakfast order which we received within 10mins of ordering, whilst helping ourselves to tea/coffee etc. Thank you Ana for your friendly warmth