We had a lovely stay at Briar Bank having previously stayed on the outskirts of Shanklin many moons ago when our children were little. We are family of 6: 2 adults (parents), 2 adult children (23 and 21) and their partners and on the whole we were able to enjoy the space reasonably well. We asked for the 2nd reception room with sofa bed to be set up as our 3rd bedroom as the bunk beds weren't suitable for our son and his girlfriend. This was done without any problems and accommodated them very comfortably.
The kitchen was well equiped for cooking with plenty of plates, mugs and glasses though we had to use 2 pans to cook spaghetti one night as there wasn't a pan large enough for pasta for 6. My main reservation prior to booking had been that the kitchen only has a small round table with 4 chairs, with 3 bar stools at the peninsula unit. There is a large garden table outside which we were hoping would be the location of our home cooked meals, however, the weather was very mixed and the evenings were cold so this did pose a problem. We did squeeze the 6 of us around the kitchen table a couple of times, using the spare folded chair in the utility and a garden chair but it was quite cramped and not as sociable as we had hoped for dining.
The main living room was lovely and spacious with comfy sofas and room for all our party to relax and play games in the evening.
A point to note is that the two main bedrooms upstairs and the main living room face onto North Road and the pavement opposite is elevated, so people walking on the other side have a prime view into your personal space. The bedrooms could probably do with some opaque screening or semi sheer curtains to provide additional privacy but we managed. The bed in the master bedroom was very comfortable and I slept especially well, though the pillows are a bit on the flimsy side. I always travel with a Tempur pillow so it wasn't a problem for me but had I not brought it, these would not have provided much support.
The decor is in beautiful condition and everything was very clean with good provision of cleaning materials so we could keep it that way. We also very much appreciated the dishwasher tabs and laundry pods which were thoughtful additions. It would have been useful to have some instructions for the washer and dryer; I couldn't get the dryer to stay on initially as it would switch off a after a minute and as the bulb was out directly above the machines it wasn't easy to see the displays. In the end my OH discovered the dryer was a condenser one which we haven't used before and the drawer which captures the water needed emptying. Perhaps the cleaning team can add this to their checklist? We also had some issues with the lovely ceramic door knobs around the house which kept dropping off, particularly the main bathroom one which I'm amazed didn't crack on the tiled floor and the 2nd reception door knob one. The bottom dishwasher loading tray doesn't run smoothly and appears to come off its rails when pulled out for unloading, especially when all 6 dinner plates were in use. Unfortunately this caused one of the wine glasses to jolt out and break on the floor which was concerning so I ended up handwashing the glasses. These are just little niggles but I point them out because the house is otherwise lovely and we had an enjoyable stay.
Final point, the parking was good and we had no problem getting our Vauxhall Zafira and Corsa up the back passage. The key pin entry system worked really well too.