Host & Stay - The Nest

Great location and bright and breezy top floor apartment in a lovely old victorian townhouse. Comfortable bed and good to have the kitchenette which was well equipped (although no washing up liquid which was a bit annoying for a 2 night stay).

There were hidden fees for cleaning and a damage waiver which were not apparent on booking. Little information was provided about location and the key box code was not provided- I had to call to get this. The apartment was advertised as having parking but the parking permit was not there and no one responded to our call to locate it. The flat was decorated nicely but pale carpet was stained making it look a bit grubby despite everything else being clean.

The flat itself is light, bright and prettily decorated in calm colours. It is quiet (save for the pump for the hot water, which you get the noise of even when it is the flat below using their shower). It has the potential to be a lovely place to stay. The bed is very comfy, and the heating on the north-facing side is brilliant (it was less predictable in the bedroom, but we ended up leaving the bathroom and bedroom door open overnight to let the heat circulate to overcome the issue. The heating in the small (single) bedroom didn't work at all and the thermostat on the radiator is unmoveable).

Host and Stay are frankly awful to deal with. All they care about is the damage waiver. The parking was a fiasco and they couldn't have cared less. Unfortunately the Flat was really quite grubby. There remained bacon grease on the baking tray in the oven from a previous occupant. The floor in the kitchen was sticky and dirty. The cutlery draw was filthy. There were coffee rings on the side table in the lounge, and crumbs and receipts from previous occupants on the dining table. There were layers of grime on the lunge windowsill. The skirting boards were dusty. The bathroom floor and bath still had other people's hair in it. The bins were filthy. The carpet in the lounge in particular was covered in stains. The lighting up the communal stairs in the building does not work save at ground floor level (dangerous in the dark). The other thing is that given the cost of the accommodation, you are given the absolute bare minimum. There was no washing up liquid or sponge. No bin bags. No hand-soap in the bathroom. 5 teabags for the two of us for the 3 nights, and 6 milk sachets (very environmentally unfriendly!). One toilet roll. No kitchen roll. A 30 ml sachet each of shower gel, shampoo and conditioner.

NA

unable to collect keys after a five hour drive and very difficult to park which took further hour and a half. uninviting front garden and entrance hall and front door again uninviting, had to contact host and stay to report situation regarding keys so had to wait another half hour for representative to arrive. we were not told about the bond or the insurance until we had had paid for the booking. overall cleanliness of apartment was poor. there was no stickers on wall for fire escape instructions which is very poor in my opinion and surely with it being a top floor attic apartment there should be fire escape instructions.

The decor

The property was filthy, clearly the cleaning team hadn’t been cleaned properly, soil in the windows, tea stains on the bin, stains on the carpet and sofa and to top it off there was a long brown hair left in the bed, obviously the sheets hadn’t been changed. Also; there was damage through out, they ask for £250 from each guest to cover any damages, clearly just pocketing the money themselves. I am currently trying to get a refund for the cleaning fee as it was a disgrace, waiting on hearing back from the ceo, the staff were extremely unhelpful over email, I would not recommend this company and they should be removed from this site. UPDATE: The Host & Stay Complaints Team were on top of this pretty sharpish, after the guest services team quickly shut down any idea of a refund for the cleaning fee the complaints team were more than happy to reimburse this so thank you for this, it's very much appreciated. I would recommend to anyone who has had the same problem with this property to reach out to the complaints team. I will say though, expect to pay for parking when you arrive.

Location was ideal. Beds were very comfortable with a great view of Whitby Abbey. Would have been even better with Juliet balcony so we could sit out and look at the view. Kitchen and bathroom clean and tidy. No dishwasher (although tablets supplied!).

Biggest problem was no parking voucher supplied. As it was Whitby Regatta weekend, this was even more of an issue that it would ordinarily have been. By the time the 'chat' facility on Host & Stay (managing agency) had responded we had had to pay full parking for the duration of the stay - and further away from the property than we would have had to. The timeliness of response was very poor, and we were left out of pocket by almost £20 as a result. Not the end of the world, but frustrating. It will make me reluctant to use Host & Stay agency again. Lounge carpets were old and rucked up and in need of cleaning / replacing. Again, not the end of the world, but property felt a bit bashed around. Also, there are *a lot* of stairs - not a surprise for Whitby, but be warned!

The stairs very steep entering apartment.

Bathroom was clean and tidy and well decorated.

Entrance was dirty and smelled the entrance stairs was way to steep. Stains on carpets dirty walls throughout the property. Nothing like the photos on the site. Bird poo on windows and curtains that didn’t go fully across in bedroom.

Breakfast was not included.

The Keys were in a lock box. We could only see one at first, which said Host and stay on the box. We were out in the middle of a thunder storm trying to get the key out of the host and stay box. We did realised we weren't going to achieve this. we got out of the rain in a nearby hotel. The box with the keys in was right up at the top of the boxes. too high for us to get the key out. We found something to stand on. then eventually got them out. we had to climb 64 steps from the steps outside the property right up to the apartment. All though the apartment was really nice, the carpet was really badly stained. The view were stunning too. My friend and I have Asthma, and other chronic conditions. On booking I had not realised about the steps until after I had clicked on pay here. I straight away asked if I could swap to a ground floor apartment. This request was not possible. So I asked if I could have a refund. That request was refused too. I will most probably not stay with Host and stay again.