Arches Guest House

Don't follow Google Maps to find this place! After a nine-hour flight, a two-hour bus ride, and an hour and a half of trekking back and forth across Southampton with two heavy backpacks and two enormous suitcases, we finally found the Arches Guest House. The signage is about a five inch square, which certainly didn't aid in finding it. Steve was extremely friendly and welcoming, showing us the room and amenities and carrying our luggage up the stairs for us. Our room was fairly small, but perfectly decent for the night. The window looked out upon the little garden outside, and we were serenaded all night by the neighboring hotel's outdoor seated restaurant. The room and bathroom were clean and well-stocked (though no washcloths were available in the bathroom), and the beds were comfortable. Our breakfast order had been misplaced, but he was generous enough to scrounge in the kitchen and gave us a box with three little cereals, yogurts, a couple of apples, and a packet of shortbreads, which was more than enough food. Upon checkout, Steve carried our bags back downstairs and chatted with us until our taxi arrived. Overall, our stay was comfortable and definitely inexpensive!

Unfortunately there's not a lot of good things to say about this B&B. One good thing is that it's real close to a good restaurant that is right next-door. We had an excellent meal there and it was very reasonable. The room itself is fairly small; we had to put our larger suitcase in the bathroom which was large thank goodness. The bed is not plush at all, and of course it had a down comforter on it which we have to undo so we could just use the cover to sleep under. There are no plugs in the bathroom for the hairdryer and there are no mirrors in the room to dry your hair at. The shower turned cold on me twice and there were no hand towels, nor shampoo or soap for the shower. The guy who checked us in, Dean, was a very nice guy. Breakfast is in your room and it's cereal, milk, orange juice, yogurt, coffee and tea. Ok for a night but definitely wouldn’t stay longer.