Accommodation | Skippers Rest Apartment, Scarborough

Skipper's Rest is a one bedroom apartment in the North Bay area of Scarborough. It's located close to Peasholm Park and The Open Air Theatre. It's set one street back from the seafront and has access to the beach via the main road with pavement or via coastal cliff path. The cliff path has beautiful views and is easy on the way down but a bit tough on the legs on the way back up!

We got off to a bit of a rocky start as the booking information stated there was street parking but that's not the case, there is parking available across the road from the property but it is permit parking only and the accommodation doesn't provide one so we had to park in a nearby NCP car park. Luckily we found a spot as it has just 6 spaces. It costs £6 for 24 hours and is paid for via an app. There are plenty of other options for parking in Scarborough but further afield.  

The approach to the apartment is a little disconcerting as a lot of the properties on the street are in a state of disrepair, some of which are completely bordered up with metal shutters. The building the apartment is in is one of the nicest kept on the street. The apartment is accessed by a communal front door. There are five apartments in the block and Skipper's Rest is apartment 3 situated on the second floor. Access is via a key pad and you are emailed and text the code prior to check in. Check in is from 3pm and was easy to do.

The apartment was spotlessly clean and well equipped with everything you'd need for a self catering holiday including fridge, dishwasher, coffee machine, microwave and toaster. There is a small dining table in the bay window that seats four. The apartment is decorated in an industrial style with exposed brickwork, black accessories and morroccan tiling. It's really very attractive. The sofa in the living area converts to a sofa bed so I'd assume the accommodation can house 4 people. The sofa isn't all that comfortable, a bit hard and not very wide. It looks good though, a beautiful black velvet, a bold choice for a holiday rental. 

The bedroom is very spacious with glorious views over the cricket field. The bed is very comfortable and the linens are crisp. The pillows are the perfect mix of soft yet supportive. The curtains in the bedroom could be a little wider to fully cover the windows with no gaps, it appears they are blackout curtains but it's pointless if they don't fully cover the window. Despite that though I had a wonderfully comfortable sleep until 6am when the reality of being in an apartment with neighbours above became evident. I anticipated some noise from the people above but I didn't want to be woken up by sounds of people being sick. I know they can't help that and it's not the accommodation providers fault either but the lack of soundproofing in the apartment would put me off future visits. It's not a place for light sleepers as you can hear every sound from those above. Funnily enough you don't get a lot of noise from the seagulls here which is more often a problem at seaside properties. 

There is a TV in both the bedroom and the living room so you can drown out any unwanted noise from above. The TV's are internet enabled so you can log in to your favourite streaming platform and continue what you've been watching at home or in the case of a family, you can have constant access to Paw Patrol. The Wi-fi worked great for the first few hours but suddenly disappeared. The network became completely undiscoverable by any of our devices or the TV- this wasn't ideal for us but it would have been a disaster if we'd been hoping to work whilst away. Also, I was still logged into my Disney account at the time- I'm hoping no one can access my account and watch any chargeable content! 

When we arrived all the windows were open and the apartment smelt fresh, about an hour or so after closing the windows we noticed a distinct sewage smell emanating from the shower. There wasn't anything obviously wrong and it was draining fine when in use but it was very unpleasant and it was present throughout our entire stay. The toilet and the shower are in separate rooms so we were able to shut the door to the shower room to keep some of the smell from the rest of the apartment. I understand that they've put them in sperate rooms to maximise space but it was a bit annoying as I kept heading to the shower room instead of the toilet! Another thing to mention about the shower room is that there aren't any blinds on the window, it's just privacy film stuck to the glass. Personally I found this inappropriate and kept the room door open to cover the window partially and allow a little more privacy. 

I'm genuinely on the fence whether to recommend this apartment- it has a really modern design, it's well equipped and very conveniently located for most of Scarborough's main attractions but the lack of parking, the Wi-fi issue and the smell from the shower has let it down. Another key thing to consider is the price of this apartment. We paid £170 for a one night stay (discounted from £200). Check in was 3pm, check out was 10am- that's a lot of money compared to other properties in the area. Granted they aren't apartments but a room in the Premier Inn, a stones throw away from Skippers Rest is around £60 per night including parking and breakfast. When you compare the two, I'd rather save my cash and go for the Premier Inn. 

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