1 Apse Castle Cottage - Chocolate Box Cottage, Pet-Friendly 16th Century Cottage, surrounded by Ancient Woodland in Shanklin

The location is about a mile walk (3 minutes in a car) from the lovely village of Shanklin. The cottage was very well presented, décor was lovely and had all the facilities anyone can need. We stayed with our 2 lovely small dogs, the outside was perfect for them as the garden was fenced in. The location was perfect, woods across the road, the cottage sits on a quiet road, I didn't hear any traffic once inside. The whole cottage was very clean, and had a lovely downstairs bathroom. The beds were very comfortable, I only wish I was still there!

There was nothing I didn't like, as we drove everywhere and the location was only a mile walk from the lovely village of Shanklin, which is the best place to stay in my opinion.

Very pretty cottage with nicely thought out provisions and decor

Compact and comfortable

No garden

Absolutely fabulous stay in a lovely cottage. Spotlessly clean, everything catered for and flowers on arrival. We kept the log burner going all weekend as it was so cold and this produced plenty of heat and hot water all weekend. Would definitely recommend and hope to be back

Maybe the television needs updating, it isn't a smart TV. We didn't use it much but when we did, a smart TV would have been better

Cosy cottage vibes, close to the town but quiet. Comfortable beds, everything you need in a kitchen Dishwasher! Ideal with self catering! Cooker is good, induction hob with a very good oven. Electric oil heaters supplied and kitchen has a floor heater plus the downstairs bathroom had underfloor electric heating. Internet via starlink, gave good speeds! Bus stop at the end of the land, a couple of minutes walk! Key easy to find from instructions, needed to phone the management company as I had a bit of an issue with the security deposit, the lady who answered was very friendly and quick to help! Slept really well, we were 3 adults with a room each and found the beds surprisingly comfortable.

Hard to get the fire started was left plenty of coal, but if your not used to getting a fire going it can be difficult, didn't notice in the description the central heating is controlled by the fire. Out of 4 days only managed to get the heating working on 2 days. Plenty of fuel spare, we did buy more kindling tho but that's more of our lack of experience lighting a fire. We arrived in the dark it's hard to see with no obvious signs the house number was faded and no sign with the name. But our satnav pretty much took us to the door. Parking states 2 cars, the information in the property suggests 1 big car or 2 small. Which I'm inclined to agree. Would not recommend for anyone with mobility stairs not the easiest to go up and down, but it is an old cottage.

Nice wood burner. Excellent shower. Okay kitchen

WiFi was horrendous. Absolutely terrible. Kept dropping out on calls. Really poor. No plug for kitchen sink. Mould on shower window. In excess of 30 fake plants inside and outside, which, IMO, is too much.No access on rather small TV to stream Netflix etc. Freezer needs defrosting. Also, on arrival in the cupboard was an open pack of peanuts and a half eaten bag of Haribo sweets. Quite a few cobwebs as well.

The property was excellent for what we needed it for, plenty of room and all house hold equipment easy to use Hot water a problem

The lane outside the property was quite busy, was unable to take a walk to explore the surrounding countryside

The atmosphere was amazing. The welcome was very warm with fresh flowers and everything you need for a nice hot drink (including the milk). The furniture matched the old house perfectly but was all up to date at the same time.