A group of 15 of us stayed at The Mermaid House in Brighton in September. We were coming to Brighton for the weekend for a Hen Do, so wanted to book some themed accomodation in a great location and The Mermaid House, booked through Crown Gardens, looked amazing!
There were both positives and negatives to our stay. The positives were that the themeing of the house was really amazing and we loved all the details. The location is also amazing, being a 10-15 minute walk from the centre of Brighton. We didn't need to get taxis or buses anywhere, even when walking in heels!
There are some factors that I think could do with some improvement.
Firstly the floors were a bit sticky which wasn't pleasant. You could tell the place had been cleaned which was great, but feeling like you had to wear shoes indoors because of sticky floors wasn't nice. We were also given a total of 4 toilet paper rolls across 2 bathrooms for 15 people for a 2 night stay (Friday afternoon to Sunday midday). We ran out of toilet roll in 24 hours and there wasn't any extras hidden in any cupboards throughot the house, so we had to go buy extra. Given the price we were paying, we expected enough toilet roll to last our entire stay. 4 rolls for 15 people isn't going to cut it. The toilet seat in the basement bathroom was also broken, so extra care was required when in use!
Some photos were also misleading. The living room was shown to be much larger than it actually was, with an archway that lead into another area. However, this archway had since been closed up and made into the teal bedroom with the double bed. It was disappointing to discover things weren't as advertised when we arrived. However, I'm glad to see that the photos have now been updated to show the current size of the living room with the bench running across the wall where the archeway was.
Lastly, we had to chase to get our £500 security deposit back. It was supposed to be refunded within 14 days of our stay, but this didn't happen, and £500 is a lot of money to be waiting on. Once chased it was refunded promptly which was great.
Overall we enjoyed our stay. The beds were clean and comfortable, there were enough clean towels for everyone, and the accomodation is beautiful. Although I have a couple of points for improvement, they are minor and easily addressed (and one has already been addressed).
I would recommend The Mermaid House, and Crown Gardens as a company. Just be prepared to possibly have to go to the shop for some essentials that would normally be included/enough provided if you stayed in a hotel.