Cowes, Crossways House B&B

We had a room in the main house, so did not experience the noise from traffic as the other reviewer did. The room was very comfortable and clean and the ensuite was spotless. Every detail had been well thought out, from the variety of teas, coffees etc. to bottles of mineral water and bathroom toileteries. There were also sheets under the duvets which is always good as so often the duvets are too hot and the alternative means lying uncovered completely and then getting too cold! Breakfast was excellent, starting with a freshly made fruit salad and the cooked part done to order. Altogether an excellent experience and we will return if ever we go to East Cowes again.

After reading reviews of the Crossways B&B and looking at their web site we decided to book 3 night stay for me and my wife on the 10/11&12 September 09. We liked the look of the bedrooms and the other facilities. When we booked we were give a choice of two rooms one @ £95.00 and one @ £75.00, we chose the later. We were told we would be staying in the Lodge and we had no reason to think it would not be as desirable as the main house. We arrived late afternoon and my first impressions were that parts of the property looked neglected; the fence around the house was in need of repair and looked as if it had not been maintained for a considerable time. We were greeted by David who is a very nice gentleman. We were showed to our bedroom in the lodge which is located in a separate annex from the main house which is set back from the main road. The lodge is an L shaped structure which has four separate bedrooms adjoining each other, it situated on the corner of a side road and the main road that passes the property, it was clear from the moment that we entered the room that it was noisy because of the traffic constantly travelling up and down this busy main road. My first comment to David was regarding the traffic noise, he tried to allay my concerns saying that the rooms had good sound proofing, which if true, and it is not nearly good enough for that location. Our first night was one of disturbed sleep, although the traffic volume dropped the later it became it was still constant enough to be disturbing. Even at 4am there were approximately two cars passing every minute (I lay awake counting them) and then increasing in volume as the day moved on. At breakfast I explained to David the problem and ask for another room, he could only offer us an alternative room in the Lodge, which was pointless. The room itself was not as I had expected from the web site, it was to small for the two single beds that had been put together to make a kings size bed, we couldn't fully open the door to the ensuite because of the size of the bed, and with the other bedroom furniture it made the room very tight for space, the windows were dirty and the curtains were not secured on the tracks properly which meant that they would come off the tracks when the curtains were opened, the overall feeling of the room was claustrophobic. The en-suite although small was bright and clean but the hand basin was tiny and because of the size of the monobloc tap made it very hard to use. Because of the adjoining rooms it was easy to over hear other people's conversations or their TV. The main house was clean and tidy but showed some sign of tiredness and in need of decoration. The breakfast was varied with a good selection of well prepared good food.

We stayed for the second night which was no better. We cut our stay sort and left the next morning without an explanation to David or any expectance that we would get a refund.

If you like to have a rest in the afternoon and go to your room and lie down or need some peace and quiet then these rooms are not suitable for that purpose.