Whitecliff View

I want to be very clear that this was an extremely unpleasant and distressing experience, and I am deeply disappointed that we were expected to pay £75 per night for a room so far below the standard represented in the Booking.com listing. From the moment we arrived, we had serious concerns. The property looked rundown and did not resemble the B&B advertised. We also noticed a sign in the window advertising rooms from £30 per night, making us question why we had paid £75 per night through Booking.com. There was nobody available to greet us, no reception and no clear check-in instructions. We waited around five minutes and attempted to call the number on the door before you eventually came downstairs and gave us the key. The communal areas were immediately concerning. The stairs appeared unclean and there was a strong smell of dogs. You had two dogs at the property, which appeared to explain this. The smell in the bedroom was considerably worse. There was a strong and persistent smell of body odour, wet dog and damp. Initially, I assumed the bedding had not dried properly, so I asked for fresh pillowcases, saying they smelled damp. I changed them myself, only to discover that the pillows themselves also smelled strongly of dog. For all four nights, we had to sleep in a room with this unpleasant smell. It was genuinely difficult to return to the room each evening and significantly affected our enjoyment of our holiday. There were also several other problems. The bathroom had no window or sink, and there was no hand wash/toiletries despite these being advertised. I had to WhatsApp you to request hand wash, which you subsequently brought up. I also messaged you during our stay because the television was not working and the shower had been dripping for two nights. You did not respond, and the shower continued dripping throughout our stay. I have retained these WhatsApp messages as evidence. We were also uncomfortable with the way the room was entered every day. On one morning at around 10am, we were still in bed when somebody knocked. I said we were still in the room and declined cleaning at all that day - I said no for anyone to come back when we went out. Despite this, when we went out later, somebody had entered and still “cleaned” our room even though I said no. This happened throughout the stay, yet the only cleaning appeared to consist of making the bed and emptying very barely used bins. Despite somebody entering the room every day, we were not once provided with fresh towels during our four-night stay. There was no clear system to indicate whether we wanted cleaning, and having somebody enter after we had declined it made us feel our privacy was not being respected. There was also a serious electrical concern. Four extension cables were plugged into one another in the bedroom. We considered this a potential fire hazard and therefore unplugged them whenever we left the property. The accommodation also did not match the description we booked. The Booking.com listing described a “seafront view”, whereas our room overlooked scruffy back gardens. The sea could only be seen in the distance if you leaned out of the window and looked left. I consider describing this as a seafront view to be misleading. The listing also stated that breakfast snacks would be left every day, yet this did not happen ever day. The blinds also fell apart when I tried to open them — twice. We wanted to leave and find alternative accommodation. Unfortunately, doing so would have meant finding and paying for another hotel at short notice. We therefore felt we had little option but to endure the accommodation for the four nights we had paid for. This is not simply a complaint because the property is old or dated. The problems were fundamental: poor cleanliness, unpleasant smells, missing facilities, failure to respond to messages, privacy concerns, misleading advertising and electrical safety issue. Given the circumstances, I am requesting a full refund. I will then happily remove this review.

Lovely owner greeted me , room was very clean & the bed so comfortable. Highly recommend staying here , I shall be be back :-)

I stayed twice at this hotel this past week as it was very close to my mothers care home. The rooms were lovely. I had room 1 for 2 nights then after a night at home on the mainland I returned and was given room 2. The rooms were clean and cosy, with an excellent choice of hot drinks in the room. I was allowed to come and go as I pleased, which was important as mum was very poorly. I had the continental breakfast on one of the mornings. The staff could not do enough for me during my stay. They were kind, helpful and compassionate. If ever I return to Sandown I’ll book this lovely guest house.