“We were disappointed.”
We had really hoped we had found a place we could return to frequently, particularly for the festival. The good things: the location, parking, having outdoor space, the well stocked kitchen ( a sense that eating and hosting was important) and the 'cultural ambience' of art, music, film and books (what makes Aldeburgh a special 'by the sea' place for us). What's wrong then? A sense that some corporate fairy has waved a wand and decreed what brings in income: many beds, at least 2 bathrooms and TVs, and 'seaside themes (seagulls, beach-huts and bunting on table clothes and mugs etc). Does this matter? Yes, because it lacks integrity and pushes the accommodation into a generic 'seaside cottage' branding. It threatens to lose the specialness of this place and its heritage: which people like us are willing to pay for when we find it. More crucially, it can make accommodation uncomfortable when overcrowded with wrong or unnecessary things.. Too many beds!!!! All very clearly 'beds'...the in-your-face iron bed upstairs is almost fun in being such such a statement, but in the end it's a mistake, particularly when it is not being used and just sits there taking up space in the sitting room. The little beds downstairs take up too much space as well - a whole room given over to them. Why not redesign the two rooms downstairs as the two main bedrooms (move double bed downstairs) and then have a day bed upstairs for 'extra' space when needed? How often do 6 people use this place anyway? Must be quite crowded when they do - especially around the dining table. Other than bad use of space, other things niggle and as the week progressed began to irritate: the left hand French doors onto the balcony do not open (the lock key has no purchase and clearly needs replacing - we tried all the keys). Three glass panels in these doors are 'blown' - nice view of condensation in all three. Not being able to open these doors makes the room loess cool on hot days and funnels access to the balcony through one set of doors. Outside, this space (breeze and sea view) is wonderful but set up very badly for use. The chairs are very uncomfortable and very heavy: fine for brief dining, but not for sitting for a coffee let alone a book. Something more comfortable is needed (we carried deckchairs up there). The garden is so sadly 'let go', The grass has been cut, but the beds are overgrown with weeds (not attractive ones!!) and shrubs have not been pruned so flowering is sparse. I'm not a fan of tidy gardens, but this one is really badly unkept. You can just see the bones of what was once a well laid out garden with good architectural planting and interesting trees. Why would one sit a in a 'new feature/ of a half-boat seat when surrounded by weeds??? It would be easy to pack the beds with ground cover and herbs (rosemary, lavender etc) which could be allowed to take over (with little need for maintenance) as an alternative to weeds (and herbs for cooking would be great). Finally, there are some internal longer term maintenance problems which are already visible: the shower tray is moving away from the wall and opening up grouting (it will need more than extra grouting to deal with this), and the third or fourth stair tread 'falls' when trod on with what is almost the sound of a slam or something heavy being dropped. Why am I taking time to write although this? Because we were so looking forward to this rental, and with a little more thought and care (and a little less concern to maximise potential rental stream through generic sea-side cottage branding and stuffing it with beds and TVs), this could be such a good place to rent...............it is clearly important to the owners, and we would have liked it to have been the same for us too. (An up-note to end with: the welcome gifts of food and drink on our arrival were very appreciated - thank you, but, a last down-note: Adnams did not give us a discount as they said they couldn't without paper proof of offer, so please make sure some vouchers are made available in the property). Thank you for taking the time to read this - please keep and make this place as special as it could and should be....
Dear Anne Bottomley,
Thank you so much for your comments on your week at The Studio, which we own and let out for holidays. I am glad you liked so many aspects of The Studio, but sorry you found it overall not to your taste, and will not be returning.
Let me address some of your comments in detail. We are sorry you found the place too full of beds: unfortunately I assume that both single beds in the smaller downstairs bedroom had been left made-up, whereas only one should have been left so, and I have reminded our caretaker about this. Some guests prefer the double bed upstairs in Robert Sadler’s old studio, with easy access to the sundeck; others (especially with young children) prefer to sleep downstairs next to their children in the smaller bedroom. But with couples as guests, we always make up both double beds to give them the choice. We quite often have 5 or 6 guests, who usually manage very comfortably.
Unfortunately the wooden French Doors do tend to “bow” in the sunshine, which can make the Chubb security bolts impossibly stiff: the trick is to pull the left hand door inwards, and then the key turns the bolt quite easily. (New lock or keys would make no difference). We have already asked our glaziers to replace the “blown” double glazed panes which you noticed.
The Garden: our gardener has unfortunately let us down by moving away without telling us, but we are having a blitz on the garden soon. Among your “weeds” are some 200 Vinca Major Variegata plants which we are encouraging to provide ground cover around the edges of the lawn and around the “boat seat”.
Thank you for the feedback on Adnams: I will investigate and try to simplify our arrangement with them.
As to The Studio being “stuffed with TVs”, there are only two: one in the studio/sitting room which some have complained is too small; and another in the smaller (children’s) bedroom which has proved a great hit with children.
We are sorry if you feel we are just trying to maximise revenue by the way we have designed, laid out, and furnished The Studio: we have tried deliberately for an Art Deco/Beach Hut feel, which many guests love, some even returning 8 or more times and considering it their “second home”. We have deliberately retained Robert Sadler’s studio as the main reception room, and used his paintings, sculptures and furniture to finish the place. Some guests love this aspect, and even enjoy his classical cassette collection too.
We are sorry you did not find the comfortable deckchairs and sun lounger which were in the summerhouse and can be taken up to the sundeck, and that a creaky stair tread annoyed you: we will see if this can be fixed.
The upstairs shower tray has not moved away from the wall as you suspected, but a small area of mould-blackened silicone will be fixed soon.
I hope this reply explains some of the problems you faced, and our philosophy in offering The Studio as it is.
Kind regards
Robin Sadler and Liz Spencer
(Owners of The Studio)
Property Owner
