JustAdamWillDo
September 2018
Me and my wife (42 and 35) stayed for a few days beginning of September.
Larksbay View is exactly as the pictures. Immaculately clean, the standard of the decor and styling is really top notch. It looked cleaned, smelled clean, it was outstanding inside. The towels smelled great. The windows from the spacious and comfy lounge and bedroom had lovely views of the sea and beach. Having a coffee and looking out the window was really great. Really comfy bed, great shower. There was a bottle of wine and some biscuits as a gift waiting for us which was lovely.
A neighbor a couple of doors down helped with parking and gave restaurant advice, very nice.
The communication was great with the rental owner.
The location was ok with a nice walk to Saltburn. Any guests no liking dogs would do well to avoid the entire area as the beach is dog paradise all the way to Saltburn. We don't have a dog and they don't bother us, but be aware there are lots of them off lead enjoying the beach.
The rental owners clearly have great taste and know what guests want when they stay self-catering. The small garden pictured is worth noting isn't connected to your apartment, you have to go out of your apartment and down the stairs and cross the small private road; no big deal but worth noting.
If I was stopping there, we've a 5 star review.
But...
No curtains in the lounge was a weird design choice. Floor to ceiling windows expose you to the world, and you've got to walk past them from the bedroom to the bathroom. At night, you're completely exposed. It turned what could have been a cosy lounge into a creepy "who's out there watching us" feeling. Maybe that's subjective, depends how you feel knowing any number of dog walkers are on the hill opposite looking in. Didn't like it and we didn't want to sit in there at night.
It was the noise that really let this place down though. We've both lived in apartments so know they aren't that quiet sometimes, and you are staying in a residential building so understand there will be some noise at some point. However, this place was ridiculous. You could hear every single word of conversation of the neighbours above. The sound of stomping feet and their dogs footsteps on the wooden floor (we could track it's movements if we wanted) was pervasive. The same large dog barking at 6am on a Sunday morning sounded like it was in the same room. The dogs owner also goes to the toilet at 2am and 4am and gets up at around 6am every day. Clop clop clop, scrapping furniture on solid floors, doors rattling... we are both really tired and it's a massive shame. We're also really thankful we only had 3 nights. The neighbour I'm sure is just going about his business. But how someone could pace around so much in their shoes in the morning and evening and scrape furniture is beyond me. It drove us mad. It was a massive shame because we wanted to love where we stayed because it was so amazing inside, but that noise level was just too much.
You could be reading this and thinking it's exaggerated as reviews on Trip Advisor can be, and maybe you're ok with staying somewhere that feels like you're sharing the place with an unseen stranger in your midst. For us, we only ask for peace and quiet and a lie in in a comfy bed if we choose. We were awaken multiple times by stomping feet and dog barking, not great.
If your idea of a lie in on the weekend is 6am and you could easily fall asleep in a restaurant, then this apartment is totally fine for you and it's 5 stars. If you're a normal person, I'd suggest you don't stay here, and I really hate saying that because it was so well presented otherwise. It could have been great but for us, it wasn't, so please take this review and make an informed decision before booking.