Maison Chaussey, St. Helier, Jersey

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~~~WHERE IS THE MAISON CHAUSSEY?

The Maison Chaussey guest house can be found on Havre Des Pas in St. Helier, Jersey. It is in a really good location because it looks right onto the seafront and is a great base because it is next to the beach and within walkig distance of the town centre. We went from Jersey Airport to the hotel in a taxi (a very swish stretch mercades!). Although there is a good bus service the taxi is my ...
...the tunnel and walking to Maison Chaussey with cases. The taxi cost us around £15 (it would have been nearer a tenner in a smaller taxi) which wasn't bad split between six.

We found various ways to walk into St. Helier centre and these ranged from ten minutes if you cut through the St. Helier tunnel (not to be recommended during busy periods because the traffic makes the air quality extremely poor in the long tunnel), to around half ... more

During our recent trip to Jersey we stayed at a lovely little guest house. A friend booked it for a group of three couples for a week and another couple booked separately to join us for the weekend. As we had a really nice stay I thought I would tell you about the place in case you were planning a holiday to Jersey and needed a room.

~~~WHERE IS THE MAISON CHAUSSEY?

The Maison Chaussey guest house can be found on Havre Des Pas in St. Helier, Jersey. It is in a really good location because it looks right onto the seafront and is a great base because it is next to the beach and within walkig distance of the town centre. We went from Jersey Airport to the hotel in a taxi (a very swish stretch mercades!). Although there is a good bus service the taxi is my recommended way of getting there ~ it would be a bit of a struggle getting through the tunnel and walking to Maison Chaussey with cases. The taxi cost us around £15 (it would have been nearer a tenner in a smaller taxi) which wasn't bad split between six.

We found various ways to walk into St. Helier centre and these ranged from ten minutes if you cut through the St. Helier tunnel (not to be recommended during busy periods because the traffic makes the air quality extremely poor in the long tunnel), to around half an hour if you walked round the headland (this is a nice walk and gets you near to the bus station along with giving you the best views of the harbour and Elizabeth Castle). The most pleasant walk is via Snow Hill (this takes around fifteen to twenty minutes) and takes you right into the main shopping area of St. Helier.

~~~THE OUTSIDE.

The Maison Chaussey doesn't look much if you approach by road. The main entrance is just a door to the foyer. Most photos of the hotel concentrate on the entrance from the seafront. This frontage is much more appealing ~ a nice seating area leading into a little dining/bar area with a window where you can watch the sea while having your food.

~~~THE ROOMS.

The Chaussey only has eight rooms so it probably wouldn't be a good idea to turn up on spec! Out of these only two have sea views and only one of these has a sea view AND a balcony. As you enter the hotel you need to come through the entrance lobby (past the ladies loo), by the bottom of the stairs and into the bar to ask one of the nice ladies to book you in (more about check in and check out later).

The bar and dining area (called Drifter Bistro) are combined and the place does get nicely busy with diners and guests in the evening. Once checked in (we had to go for a walk first because we arrived before our rooms were ready) we got our keys and went up the stairs to our respective rooms. We bagged room one ~ there is no lift and this was the room accessible via only the one flight of stairs!

The rooms are all pretty much the same. All are a reasonable size ~ not huge but with ample room for a couple. The furniture and furnishings are not too modern but all were spotlessly clean with plenty of storage and wardrobe space. We had a double room which had a tv (in a very awkward place above the bed, amking it difficult to watch without getting a crick in your neck), an oscilating fan (needed to drown out the sound of the loud air conditioning unit from the restaurant next door), tea & coffee making facilities, radiator (not needed as it was really warm) and a private bathroom.

The bathroom was nicely tiled, clean and of a good size. There was no bath but the shower cubicle was big enough to move around in. I would have liked to have seen a few more shelves in the shower because I'm not good at juggling shampoo, shower gel and sponge! Appart from that it was a good room and comfortable enough for a week's stay. Oir friends who arrived for the weekend had a sea view room and, appart from a bay window looking onto the beach, the room was pretty much identicle to ours.

~~~CHECK IN & CHECK OUT.

As I said before we had to wait for our rooms because our horrendously early flight got us to the hotel at 9.15am. The lovely owner gave us a cup of coffee while we filled in our visitor cards (all visitors have to fill one in) and gave us somewhere to put our luggage. All the staff were very friendly and made us feel very welcome. They also gave us a place to change into some fresh clothes becasue we were very hot in the clothes we had traveled in ~ the sun was shining by now!

As we were checking out early in the morning we arranged to settle our bill the night before. Our only concern was that neither of the owners live on the premises so there was no-one to leave the keys with when we left. We have been back for over a week and nobody has conteacted to say anything was wrong so I'm assuming leaving them in the room door was the best thing to do.

~~~PRICES & BOOKING.

The standard rate for a room changes with the seasons. We went in September so we paid £27.00 per room per night. The rates are as follows:

Jan, Feb, Nov and Dec £20.00
March - May £25.00
June - Sept £27.00

There is a £2.00 per night supplement for a sea view and a further pound for the sea view AND balcony! They accept all major credit cards and you can either book via the internet (one address is shown below), be telephone or by emailing the hotel (link is on the web-page). We didn't book ourselves but our friend said it was pretty painless. I would advise that you book ahead because of the limtied rooms.

~~~FOOD & DRINK.

The price of the room includes full English breakfast. Breakfast starts at 8.30am and runs up til lunchtime. This is exclusively for guests during the first half hour and then it is open to non-residents too. Breakfast wasn't huge but it was freshly cooked. We also got coffee or tea, cereal, fruit juice and toast. The hotel also opens for meals at lunchtime and evening and, although we didn't eat there ourselves, the food did look nice and the menu was quite varied.

We drank in the bar one evening when we returned a little early from the beer festival. Drinks were quite expensive (three quid for a single whisky and coke) but it was a nice place to sit on a warm night wathcing the waves ~ we only did it the once though!

~~~FINAL THOUGHTS.

We enjoyed our stay at the Maison Chaussey and found it was perfectly adequate for our needs. It was small, friendly and in an ideal location for a sea-side holiday. It isn't really a hotel for anyone wanting luxury or modern surroundings and I doubt that it would really suit anyone with children (there is no entertainment and no children's menu) or anyone wanting a really busy place. The lack of lift and ground floor rooms would also make it unsuitable for anybody with mobility problems ~ the nearest room is up at least 10 steps.

The good points far outway the bad ones though. My niggles include the placement of the tv, the extremely noisy air-con unit next door and the lack of info about where to leave our key when checking out. The good points are numerous, as you would have read earlier.

I particularly enjoyed sitting outside the hotel after breakfast watching the sea come in and the people walk by. The Maison Chaussey is an ideal location for a coffee and to people watch.

So...a good, friendly and comfortable guest house in a top location by the sea front! That will be a highly recommended from me then.....

~~~HOTEL DETAILS.

Maison Chaussey
Havre Des Pas, St Helier
Jersey, JE2 4UL
Telephone: 01534 723836
http://www.a1tourism.com/uk/maison1.html
 

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