Host & Stay - Ropewalks Apartment

This is what I did NOT like - I could not add all of my comments to the 'What didn't you like' section - read this first and then the lower section after. This stay was booked by me for my son, his partner and my two grandsons (aged 9 and 11). I chose an apartment-style place for (their) flexibility, I would normally use hotels. There was no real cost saving here, this booking was as expensive as most decent Liverpool hotels but the flexibility of an apartment would be worth it - so I thought. The booking process was hardly straightforward, not the usual click and go on Booking.com. Shortly after booking I was contacted by the Host & Stay management team who needed information from me about my party and intentions of my visit. I know they are trying to vet guests for their client but this seemed somewhat intrusive. Before arriving I was informed that there would be a (mostly refundable) £250 damage deposit to pay or a £25 non-refundable waiver insurance. This was not mentioned when booking and I think it should have been. The process for paying the waiver also involved a basic 'vetting' via another agency, Superhog, it's not just about providing a card payment. I found this pretty excessive. After finally paying the waiver I was provided with a location to pick up the key to the apartment - a mini-market place not far from the apartment but not exactly next door either. This is just a plain hassle and contrasts so much with usually just showing up and checking in to a staffed hotel or b&b. The apartment. This was basic but ok. The sofa bed used by the boys was uncomfortable for them. There were issues with hot water provision.

Continued... There was supposed to be a second apartment key in the apartment but this was missing, reported to Host & Stay with no action ensuing. This meant that somebody, somewhere, had a key to enter an apartment where my family was staying for 3 nights. Not good AT ALL. The front door itself would hardly close/lock and was very flimsy. In the wee small hours there was a lot of noise outside in the apartment complex interior and the door was kicked several times. My son slept fitfully due to concern somebody would kick in this door. Again, not good. On checkout we returned the key to the mini-market place but even then had a final pestering call from Host & Stay to ensure that the key had been returned (why not ask the mini-market?). Painful. Would I book this apartment again? Absolutely not, even at 50% of what we paid. I'm from Liverpool and I know that a city centre location on a weekend is going to be raucous but having to worry about security of a place once you shut the door is very bad indeed. Would I use Host & Stay again? No I won't, they are far too intrusive and their booking procedures are frankly over the top. I will stick to staffed hotels and b&bs and have the knowledge that if something goes wrong I can call down to somebody to address that. My recommendation - avoid booking this apartment and, in my opinion, avoid using Host & Stay or fully understand their processes and charges. Wholly unimpressed!

Clean , good location. Hot water for showers was great.

Didn’t like that we had to travel in a taxi to get the keys at a shop to pick up keys and then had to take the keys back to the shop when we checking out was about a 5 min drive in taxi. And there was only one double bed and sofa which wasn’t very comfortable.

The apartment was clean and comfortable and very central would stay again.

Noise during the night from other residents, however this is not the hosts fault

location

felt like it hadn’t had a good clean in a while. lots of dusts on skirting boards, cup and utensils all needed a good clean before use

property was great, lovely size and very cosy! location was perfect close to absolutely everything in the centre! will 100% stay again, the best place we’ve stayed in liverpool!!