First the good: This is a charming heritage B&B with nicely decorated bedrooms all ensuite. We stayed in the king room (1) which did have the sink and tub in the room which was a little odd, but also a fireplace and period furniture. There is a communal refrigerator in the hall with coffee, milk, bisquits and mugs for anytime use. The breakfast room is very nice and a pretty patio is available to guests as well.

Now the bad: There was no one to greet us and the keys were just left on a table in the hall. We were assigned a different room then the one we reserved which was larger but at the front of the house. Owners are off-site and employ a housekeeper who was not there so we had to go to phone booth to call them. The air conditioner was inadequate for the room size and the windows had no screens. The room was so hot we had to ask the housekeeper for a fan. The noise from the trains started at around 3am and was so loud it woke us up and we were not able to get back to sleep. Breakfast is adequate but only served from 8-9am so forget sleeping in even a little. The breakfast room is very nice with a couch, tv and internet, but guests are unable to access this room as it is locked and apparantly the home of the housekeeper (who is a very nice young woman but unable to solve problems only an owner can). Location is not central--easily over a 2 mile walk to the center of town although near the train station and several backpackers lodgings.

The solution: Spoke with Ying, one of the owners several times on the phone and she was concerned and gracious. Allowed us to opt out of our three-night reservation and refunded our deposit. We were then able to move to another hotel for the rest of our stay that met our needs more fully.

Although I would not stay in this hotel again and not recommend it to a friend, I still found it to be a very charming B&B. Unfortunately, the location and lack of on-site owners conspire to rob it of the usual kind of personal service you expect at a B&B.

We arrived Friday afternoon with our key left in the hallway. Our room was up some very grubby carpeted stairs. The airconditioning had not been turned on for our arrival and the unit was very hot and smelt of mold. There was a fridge with no milk and no coffee mugs to be found. The communal kitchen was locked and no sign of staff anywhere. The bathroom smelt of urine and the shower tiles were mouldy with cockroach poo on the soap dispener. The spare pillow in the draws was heavily stained and I was too scared to look at the ones on the bed. The girl that came to clean the room just looked in through the glass door to see if we were gone and ran off. We did not have breakfast as only available between 8 and 9.

I have read the other reviews and can see their points, though the earlier ones about the place being dirty must have been before the change of owners, as the place was extremely clean, with good towels and linen. We actually enjoyed our stay here, the front room we had was large, and well furnished, with lovely polished wood floors. It was slightly noisy but not too bad, and we are used to the country quiet. The worst thing was if a train passed by, not much chance of a lie in, but we didn't care as we wanted to get out and explore the city. The odd thing was that the bath was actually in the bedroom, though having said that there was a magnificent bucket head shower in the bath, completely drenching, one of the best showers anywhere! The loo was a cupboard on the other side of the room, which was fine if a little bizarre! The breakfasts were adequate, fruit and cereal and toast. The young lady who managed the place was charming and looked after us very well. Tea and coffee were in another cupboard in the hall, but available any time, as were chocolate biscuits! Location for exploring was great, could walk to the city cat and buses and everywhere. Quirky but good.

Read the other reviews as well before making up your mind.

The positive aspects were its great location from Roma Station..you can walk with suitcases although it is up a little hill. There are some wonderful restaurants within a couple of minutes. We liked the Thai place even though the inside stank of Janola..we sat outside and was most impressed with the food. The room was probably the smallest one and the bathroom was in the cupboard. If you are overweight you will find this tricky. It was very clean with good quality linen and a flat screen TV. Some of the other rooms are much larger but also on the road front. There is no soundproofing between the rooms and we could hear every word of our neighbours. Glad they weren't on their honeymoon.!! You need an access code to get in the front door. We booked from an internet cafe and had no phone to call to get the access code. So we had to wait on the veranda until someone let us in.

A lovely Colombian student was our host and she tried very hard to make our stay a pleasant one.

The breakfast was very good with yogurt, fresh fruit salad, cereals and a variety of breads. You could also make yourself tea or coffee at any time.

They had a delightful little courtyard that you could use and also internet access.

As the others said, the noise is the main problem. We didn't hear the crow but did hear the neighbours and the trains. We used ear plugs..which we always use when travelling..and half a sleeping pill. But neither of us slept that well. So if you live in a noisy environment you will be quite happy here but if you are used to very quiet conditions then this is probably not the place for you.