Sandcastles Guest House

We stayed at Sandcastles for 2 nights in June 26. The staye was mostly enjoyable, good hosts, good breakfast, parking and location. The room left a little to be desired, the bed was small and it was difficult to move in the bathroom. Overall though, we enjoyed our stay.

a month ago · via Google

Fantastic place to stay for families very very clean everywhere . The family that owns the sandcastles are very nice. Well what can I say about the breakfast you will not be disappointed . Good location not far from the seafront or the shops we will definitely going back thanks again for a lovely time.

2 months ago · via Google

I stayed at Sandcastles Guest House for two nights with my mum in September. Sadly, our stay was extremely uncomfortable and far below what any paying guest should reasonably expect. Our room had visible dust, cobwebs/spiders, mould and bedding that felt unclean, to the point we couldn't sleep in it. I slept very poorly due to itching and the uncomfortable mattress, and the next morning found a beetle/cockroach running across my bed, which I photographed and captured under a cup. When we reported these issues respectfully, the host stated she was "puzzled" and behaved defensively. After discussion, we were moved to another room with a £20 goodwill gesture. The second room had also evidently failed a deep clean- included black mould along the curtain lining and windowsills. Black specks were visible on the bed sheet- consistent with bed bugs/bed bug excrement. Thick dust and old food particles were present on the bed frame. This was totally unacceptable. I carry out residential apartment cleaning in my job role, and I was shocked to see the cleaniness standard in this guest house. I fail to understand why rooms were not cleaned and dusted before guests arrive. To make matters worse, on the second morning at breakfast, my toast was served on a rusty toast rack. Leaving earlier wasn’t feasible, we had travelled six hours by train, my mum has physical disabilities, and alternative accommodation was financially unrealistic. After returning home, we attempted to obtain a refund via Booking.com. Be aware, (as is unfortunately common) Booking.com were unable to assist. Citizens Advice explained that Booking.com are not UK-based, therefore do not have to fully adhere to UK consumer law, hence makes resolving complaints through them extremely difficult. Instead, we followed Citizens Advice guidance, which was to send 'one' formal letter requesting a refund. This was done respectfully through the correct channels. We acted properly and appropriately. The issues (dust, mould, the insect, and the rusty toast rack at breakfast) were clearly visible to the naked eye and documented exactly as found. As paying guests, we expect a basic level of cleanliness and professionalism, none of which were met during our stay. Our stay at Sandcastles caused us a great deal of stress. I strongly advise you avoid this guest house. EDIT: In response to the owner’s comments- we have not run any "campaign". We followed Citizens Advice guidance by sending a single formal letter. All further communication was via third parties, such as our booking platform, not directly with the hosts. We did not "threaten" Trading Standards. Our letter simply stated that if the matter could not be resolved directly, we would follow Citizens Advice procedure. This is standard consumer-rights guidance, and we were fully within our rights to do so. All issues we mentioned are supported by clear, time-stamped photographs. These were not "zoomed in"- they were photographed exactly as they appeared with the naked eye. Our review accurately reflects our genuine experience at the time of our stay. We have simply shared the conditions we encountered, so that future guests can make an informed decision.

8 months ago · via Google

We stayed at Sandcastles Guesthouse for two nights in early September. Unfortunately, our experience was very disappointing. On the first morning, we discovered a beetle/cockroach running across my bed (photo time-stamped at 7:50 am). The uncleanliness of the room made us uncomfortable- thick dust, cobwebs with spiders, black mould, bed bug activity. The bedding felt unclean and mattresses/pillows were uncomfortable. Despite explaining our issues, the host expressed she was confused with our complaint (please judge for yourself with the photographic evidence). We were moved to another room and given £20 as a good-will gesture. The second room was only somewhat cleaner, there was black mould present on curtains, black specks on the bedding consistent with bed bug activity, food particles/thick dust on the bed frame. Unfortunately, we couldn't sleep in the beds and had very little sleep during our stay. On our last morning, the toast rack provided at breakfast was rusty (photo included). We left promptly. While we accepted being moved rooms, we didn’t feel the overall standard of hygiene reflected the high ratings we’d read beforehand. We reported the matter appropriately and followed guidance from Citizens Advice and Environmental Health. It’s a shame, as our visit to Great Yarmouth itself was lovely, but we wouldn’t return to this guesthouse.

8 months ago · via Google