My husband, my 4-year old daughter, and I stayed in the Blue Cottage. It was one of 2 rooms that would accomodate a third person. My sister and brother-in-law stayed in the Chatham Room. The front desk staff were extremely nice! They are the nicest I have ever met and I have done alot of travelling! The afternoon tea and cookies were a very nice treat.
Blue Cottage:
The Blue Cottage is a two story standalone unit. It shares a courtyard with the main house and is very private. You have to walk to the back of the main house and down a wooden staircase. It's sort of inconvenient when you have luggage, but it's not THAT bad.
Upon entering, on the right wall is a mini kitchenette that is part of the living room, sort of like a studio apartment setup. The kitchenette had a mini fridge, microwave, range, oven, coffeemaker, and sink. The cabinets and drawers contained plates, bowls, utensils, cups, mugs. The floor is tiled with a large rug covering most of the area. The tiles needed mopping and the rug seemed a bit dirty, but it was hard to tell because it was navy blue in color. However, I could tell it was dirty because I am anal retentive when it comes to cleanliness of carpets and rugs. The room also had 2 chairs and a pullout sofa. The bed on the sofa was semi-comfortable because it had a few springs missing.
Against the back wall of the room is the narrow staircase to the upstairs bedroom and bathroom. The carpet was very very dirty and matted down. It is definitely in need of replacement. This was agreed upon by the rest of the family as well. The queen sized bed was standard in terms of comfort compared to beds at other midrange hotels. The sheets and comforter were very clean.
The bathroom could've been cleaner. The bathtub/shower would not drain, so my husband called the front desk for some drano and we were able to fix it ourselves. The tub/shower was dirty and there were short strands of hair along the sides.
The first morning, when the cleaning staff came to clean our room, they did our dishes for us which was very nice. After that, they no longer cleaned any of our dishes. I don't think it would've bothered me as much if they didn't clean our dishes to begin with. Since they did it the first night, I would've expected them to do it every night. I just like consistency.
Chatham Room:
This room is completely redone. The floors are either refinished or brand new wide plank hardwood. It is on the 3rd floor and I can understand why some people complained about the travel up the stairs, but my sister and brother-in-law travel light so for them, it wasn't a big deal. The room also overlooks Chatham square. I thought the room was very romantic and quaint!
The bathroom is completely redone with nice stonelike tile floors. I really liked their bathroom and wished our bathroom in the Blue cottage was similar. However, their tub wouldn't drain either! We kept forgetting to ask the staff about the drano for them so they just put up with it. Their tub/shower also had cleanliness issues.
Breakfast:
The waitstaff and the chef are the nicest people! They are so friendly and polite. Eating breakfast for us was a treat. The meals are very kid friendly too. My daughter loved it! We thought the breakfast was very good. It was fresh and hot! Every night, they supply a menu and they give you one of 2 choices, a chef's choice and an alternative choice. The alternative choice is usually eggs, bacon or sausages. You fill out the card with the time that you intend to arrive at the breakfast room. They also supply cereal and a bread of some sort, similar to a banana bread. They are very accommodating!
Overall, we really liked it. The tub draining issue was slightly annoying but it was something we took care of easily, so it wasn't THAT big of a deal. I guess my main issue was the cleanliness of the floors in the Blue Cottage (the Chatham Room did not have this problem) and the cleanliness of the bathrooms in both the Blue and Chatham. I don't know if I would stay here again. I might. It's one of the few places that allow children, but there are a couple others I would like to try.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC