Grange Cottage - Review Page 2
Accommodation
The upper balcony, with its 36-foot decorative wooden balustrade and four roof support pillars, represents the main living area. Three wide sets of fully-opening doors lead off the balcony and provide access to the kitchen, in the centre, and to a bedroom at either end. A common shared bathroom lies behind the kitchen, with direct access from each bedroom.
The lower floor has an identical layout, except that the ‘kitchen’ area becomes a laundry and storage room, with large American Whirlpool washer and dryer. It should be noted that there is no internal access between the two floors.
Until recently, the building was completely undecorated. However, the owners accepted that un-rendered, unpainted concrete blocks were not necessarily to everyone’s taste and so have been refurbishing the cottage over recent months. Work was nearing completion prior to our stay. The walls have been plastered and painted white and the concrete floors sealed with a smooth, plain latex screed. The décor is simple, but in keeping with the overall concept of the cottage.
Each of the 135sq.ft. bedrooms are identical in size and layout. They are furnished with two adjacent 3ft single beds, an overhead storage shelf with reading lamps, a small table, a dressing table with drawers and two wardrobe units providing some five feet of storage, half of which is full-length hanging space with lots of hangers. The upstairs bedrooms and bathroom featured large wall mirrors with a gorgeous surround of sea shells.
The beds were comfortable, with clean linen of reasonable quality. The cottage is not serviced, other than between guests. However, stocks of clean laundry are available in the laundry room. An electric iron is available, but a slight omission was the absence of an ironing board.
Like the rest of the property, the bathroom is basic but provides the basic facilities one needs: a toilet, a washbasin (with adequate storage for toiletries) and a shower. Neither the kitchen nor bathroom washbasins are plumbed for hot water, but the walk-in showers do have instantaneous hot water heaters with good water pressure. A basic first aid kit was provided in the bathroom: a sensible precaution that most rental properties miss.
The newly decorated kitchen gleamed with its white walls and new white-laminate cupboards and work units. A very smart new auto-lighting bottled-gas four-ring stove complimented the new microwave, electric kettle and toaster. Additional appliances include a large fridge and freezer and a good, clean, collection of crockery, cutlery, glassware and cooking utensils. Although small, this was a kitchen that invited you to stay at home and dine in. A small welcome pack of basic supplies, including cereal, coffee, tea, and sugar, etc., is provided for new arrivals.
The balcony is furnished with a large polished wooden table and bench seating, quite adequate for eight diners. The only other furnishings for the balcony are seven high quality Adirondack wooden armchairs. Initially comfortable, these chairs proved a little hard for our bony bottoms after sustained periods of sitting. However, we understand that cushions will be provided for these. The lower terrace is furnished with a handful of wooden chairs. A couple of sun loungers and an aluminium beach chair were available for sun bathing.
Needless to say, the cottage is not air-conditioned. Each bedroom is fitted with a quiet ceiling fan and there are more fans on the main balcony. Although there are several trees between the house and the beach, they are not dense enough to block the entire view or the sea breezes. We never found the property too hot, day or night. My biggest problem has been the amusing distraction of watching three juvenile red squirrels chasing around the tree in front of the balcony and hoping that they do not run foul of the big tree iguana that I have regularly seen within the branches.
Mosquito nets are not provided and, thankfully (they always look so grubby and cut out the light) the windows do not have mosquito netting. Each bedroom is provided with an electric mosquito deterrent and mats.
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