City Studios - ELY

katewU2438PY

Great central location, well appointed and stylish. We had studio 3 which had a comfy double bed, sofa bed and pull out bed so loads of options. Welcome pack (milk/crisps/biscuits/water) and tea, coffee etc appreciated. Electronic key pad locks not the easiest to work at first but we soon got the hang of them. I had asked re parking beforehand and realised that we'd have to move the car early and wouldn't be guaranteed a space in the nearest free carpark so we used just park and parked in the Waitrose carpark (5 mins walk) for £12 for three days/nights which was perfect. Would happily recommend city studios apt 3.

Lowestoft-Reviewer

The apartment did what it said on the tin, but there were some practical thoughts others should consider. |I always think that you can tell a lot from a welcome hamper. Ours had some aldi biscuits and salt and vinegar crisps a couple of small bottles of water and some milk for a few cups of tea. Good enough to tick the box and be appreciated, but given Ely is a hive of small independent shops, it could have been a bit more locally orientated.|The bed is set into an alcove, meaning it is closed off on three sides. It's not great for getting up without climbing over anyone else you're sharing with.|The bathroom towel rail has a tiny "on" sticker at the bottom which is barely visible and no mention of this in the room guide. There is a macerator system in operation but no bathroom bin meaning any hygiene products need to be disposed in the kitchen bin. The shower is just acceptable, dont expect a power shower, but was never warm enough for me on its hottest setting, but it wasn't cold, acceptable. |The radiators were set to 15 degrees but easy enough to increase but no mention of this in the room guide either.|The kitchen area lacked a tea towel.|The room has two windows but is quite dark and no outside window to help vent the bathroom. |There isn't on site parking but a public car park near the rear which provides 4 hour and 23 hour parking free of charge. If you can find a space. The all day car park section is full by 10am and the four hour parking is very busy. If you are a blue badge holder for disabled then you can park anywhere for as long as you need. We needed to wait for a four hour space to get us through the evening and then move the car in the morning to a different car park and then back again in the evening to get us through the second night. Not the best but its free.|The location is brilliant and right where you need to be but there are lots of other overnight accommodation options which share a similar location.|We stayed in the area for a wedding and our accommodation wasn't the worst or the best of the options taken by the wedding party. |The apartment could easily change layout to design out the bed issue, add a couple of more personal and practical touches and it would be a much better proposition. |

Oedi

My wife and I stayed in room 2.||This is the room with the bed enclosed on three sides. As a couple of a certain age, our nights are frequently interrupted for the toilet. ||So one person having to climb over the other on the middle of the night did not make for a good night's sleep. ||On our second night we put the mattress on the floor. It is the first time we have ever had to sleep on the floor. ||Otherwise, the room was nice, tidy and well appointed.||Just make sure you are not in room 2 if you are a couple wanting a good night's sleep

louisegM4164VH

This is an amazing place to stay for a visit to ely. Everywhere is walking distance. Plenty of eateries around and the place is great. Very clean and had everything you needed even to milk in the fridge and a basket of goodies. I had requested decaf coffee and tea and I was very happy to find the owner had for-fill my requested. Nothing seems to much trouble. The only issue we had was the car park. There is a large long stay and short stay car park behind the apartment with restrictions which meant we had to move the car a few times to stay within the restrictions. I had made contact with owner upon arrival as I wasn’t made aware of the complete restrictions but she was very helpful and sent me alternative parking places which helped us a-lot. I would stay here again and would 100% recommend. Also the bed was very comfortable

Sandinmyshoesagain

We booked 2 nights here in an upgraded room via Booking.com. What we walked into was a standard room with a double bed set within an alcove. As an elderly couple we were astonished that anyone would expect two people to sleep in this bed. We found it very difficult to get in & out of the bed an checked out after a dreadful nights sleep. We contacted the owner who relinquished any responsibility referring us to back to Booking.com. It took a week to get a response from Booking.com who basically said they will refund our 2nd night if we change our poor review on their website. We have refused to do that and hence I am making others aware of this poor practice and customer manipulation so that they can continue to advertise sub standard accommodation.

OOGK

A very clean, well equipped ( apart from only having a cheap mini ironing board and travel iron which was pretty useless ) and centrally located studio. Parking was only few minutes walk away. ||That’s the good part as in our studio, no 2, the double bed was in a most peculiar boxed in area with one side against a wall so extremely difficult to get in and out of. Never seen anything like it. Very uncomfortable and spoilt our stay.||The two seater sofa, the only soft seating apart from the awful bed, was also too uncomfortable to sit in for too long. ||All in all not a great studio flat to relax in and could so easily have been better!

shep7774

I knew how much work went into building and designing these apartments. But they exceeded my expectations. Well presented, clean, facilities excellent. Finishing touches from the glass bottle in the fridge with enough milk for a night stay, to the choice of tea and even hot chocolate. ||The decor is lovely and I appreciate the pictures on the wall lovely. ||Great place comfy bed loads of from.||||We had the family room for just two. ||||Couldn't find fault.||||This facility is also very close to the town and all bars and restaurants within walking distance. No noise though.||||Short walk from the station

Sabrina C.

I stayed here with my partner for one night to visit family. The entrance to the apartments are accessed by a door on the main road. There is no proper place to unload luggage so we parked (badly) on the double yellow lines directly outside to take our bags up. You get into the building via electronic codes which work for the main entrance and your apartment.

Parking is close by and is free.

There is a steep staircase up to the apartments so it may not be ideal for people with mobility impairments.

We were in Apartment 2.

Once in the apartment I initially thought it was a great find. Then I used the toilet. The macerator is so loud. There is a note on the toilet to tell you that there is a macerator which is good for people who still flush things that they shouldn't.

The kitchen had all the food and drink preparation items that we needed. It would be nice to have a sponge to wash up with as opposed to a jay cloth. The teatowel had tea/coffee stains on it so I left washed items on the side to dry.

The bed is in an alcove which you need to climb into. Again not good for those with mobility impairments. It felt like it was two single beds put together as there was a dip in the centre of the bed. The bedding was clean. The duvet was open at the base which caused me to get in a bit of a tangle the next morning. There are individual light controls by the bed and usb points to charge your devices and a handy shelf to put your device on. One of the USB points was broken.

On the desk there was a small cosmetic mirror but I do think the room would benefit from having a larger mirror for hair and make up.

There is a small wardrobe with hangers but it would be nice to have somewhere to hang coats and jackets nearer to the front door.

In the morning I used the shower. This is what caused me to write this review. Such a lovely looking shower unit BUT the water struggled to drain and the shower tray kept filling up. I pulled out the shower trap (gross) and the water just wasn't draining. I was worried about flooding the bathroom so I rushed. This is really not ok. I believe from the sound of things.. everything was plumbed through the macerator. So on top of rushing to wash myself, I had the noise of the macerator going off. My partner also tried to clear any blockages in the shower trap when he showered (there were no blockages). He also had to shower quickly as the water level rose.

Location wise, this place is excellent but there are things that really need to be looked at.