Indian Summer House, Osborne, East Cowes, Hampshire,

Beautiful location but the property looks a bit tired inside, clearly not much has been spent on it in recent times. When it rained the water poured in through the bathroom ceiling and we needed a bucket and mop to sort it. We reported it to hotel reception next morning but nothing was done. Also found some clothes left folded on a shelf in the bedroom were saturated because water had been seeping down bedroom wall. Also reported to hotel reception and booking agents but nothing done, so we hope it doesn't rain for subsequent guests.

Have just returned from a lovely weeks holiday, the first time for us in this cottage. I will break the review down into 'points' to make is easier!

Positive:

Very quick check-in: went to reception in the Albert Cottage Hotel and one of the girls walked us to the cottage, quickly showed us round and explained everything, then left us to unpack. Didn't have to sign anything or fill any forms in!

The cottage itself: very well set out and decorated in a very sympathetic style. Plenty of room to move around with a small breakfast table, large dining table, good size main bed and loads of storage space.

Location: Set in secluded grounds away from the main hotel you can drive right up to the cottage and basically leave the car anywhere you want, even right outside the front door. It is very peaceful with no road noise at all. We had red squirrels in the garden on a couple of occasions and plenty of birds such as robins.

Service: Aside from the quick check-in, the staff at the hotel were also very friendly throughout - one night a fuse blew and 10 minutes after contacting reception a very friendly handyman turned up and fixed the problem in seconds.

Facilities: The cottage is extremely well stocked with utensils, cleaning products etc. There were loads of coffee/tea/sugar etc, and the lounge has a dvd player and good sized flat-screen tv.

Local area: East Cowes sea-front, and the chain ferry are a short walk down the hill, Osborne house is just around the corner, and the main road is a very short distance away which means it is easy to get to Newport and therefore anywhere you wish to go on the Island.

Negatives:

Only one - although there is plenty of seating it is in the 'old-style' and I would have preferred a nice soft sofa to curl up on in an evening, but I guess if the worst thing you can say about a holiday cottage is that the chairs were a little hard then I guess its pretty good!