Our Story
I am a Southsea local, a lover of travel and exploration, meeting new people, staying in quirky places and unearthing hidden gems to eat and drink at, or unique events to attend. In fact, I’ve become the butt of many jokes about the amount of time I spend researching things to death in my quest for hidden treasure, but I’m always the person people come to when they are looking for recommendations of where to go!
I’ve stayed in places all over the world, some fantastic and some awful, from complicated check-ins to poorly provided-for properties. Once in, I’ll often spend an age on my phone searching for decent places to go or eat that might be a bit different. Sound familiar?! This is why I founded Places to Be in 2018 and have poured a lot of love and attention to detail into our places to stay. We’ve now hosted over 1000 stays and pride ourselves on our positive reviews. I wanted to create a short stay experience that means minimal effort on your part. Rest, explore and discover more when you stay in our places. No being glued to your phone for hours! Start enjoying your trip the moment you arrive.
Daniel Ruttle
We put our guests first...
Rest
We all need our downtime. That’s why we keep things simple for our guests by offering straight forward self check-in and good quality amenities.
Cozy living areas, entertainment such as Netflix, books and games and good quality mattresses and bedding will also ensure you can kick back and relax, whether you’re working away or have been busying exploring.
Explore
All our places to stay are in great locations for exploring and close proximity to shops, bars, restaurants and activities.
Check out our digital guidebook for local recommendations of our personal favourite places to eat, drink and hangout. If you are looking for something specific we are on-hand to help out and offer suggestions.
Discover More
It’s now more important than ever to support and put back into our local communities and we will be working towards doing just that, by partnering with other local independent places to bring fantastic experiences to our guests.
We encourage our guests to look beyond the main stream and seek out the many independent places and events that Southsea does so well.
All our properties feature
If it's important to you, it's important to us. In each of our places to stay you will always find...
Great location
Parking permits available
Contactless check-in
High touch surfaces disinfected
Free WiFi
Cooking essentials
Go direct for our best rates!
Book direct and receive our best rates. If you see our listings cheaper elsewhere, let us know and we will beat it!
For Families & Groups
Discover our range of places to stay, suitable for family getaways
This beautiful and homely cottage on the outskirts of Waterlooville is just one example of our welcoming family accommodation. Find a place to stay that suits your family below.
For Solo Travellers & Couples
Discover our range of places to stay, suitable for solo travellers and couples
Whether you’re travelling on your own or as a couple, we’ve got the perfect places to suit your needs. This stunningly bright flat has most definitely got you covered, or find a place of your own below.
Our Places to stay
Whether you are looking for a couple of nights away, or need somewhere to temporarily call home, we’ve got a place for you.
We have added a small selection below, but hit ‘view all’ to see more.
Hear From Our Happy Guests
Check out what our recent guests think.
Places To Be Blog
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Frequently Asked Questions
We’ve covered the most commonly asked questions below and on our FAQ page, but if your question hasn’t been answered here, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!
There’s so much to mention! You can find out on each individual place to stay, but we’ll give you a quick lowdown: In the bedroom(s):
All the usual, linen, duvet and pillows – plus a hairdryer.
Bathroom:
- Bath and hand towels, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, hand wash and toilet roll.
Kitchen:
- All the essentials to get you started, including: Tea, coffee, sugar, crockery, cutlery, pots and pans, glasses and mugs, washing up liquid, sponge and cloth, surface cleaner and laundry detergent/softener.
In general:
- Parking, free WiFi, TV with freeview or similar, Google Mini or Alexa, Books/Games – plus regular housekeeping for stays of 2 weeks or more.On request: Travel cot, highchair, baby/toddler toys, air con/fan, extra blankets/pillows and additional housekeeping.
The last thing we want you worrying about is additional parking costs and where the nearest carpark is, so for properties based within parking permit area (which is most of them), we provide you with free parking permits for your stay*. We also provide you with information on where you can park which is sent out a few days before your arrival.
Depending on which property you are staying in we will either apply an electronic parking permit remotely, or we will leave paper permits in the property for your arrival. If it is the latter, you need to scratch off your arrival date and time and place the permit on your dashboard. These are good for 24hrs, so will need to be replaced daily.
*The maximum amount of permits supplied per day will depend on the property size. Additional permits can be purchased at a cost of £3 each.
All our properties are self-check-in with keys places in a lock box outside the property. The full address and check-in instructions will be sent to you via email within the 24hrs before your arrival.
This will depend on other bookings we have and the availability of our cleaning team (as it would mean a change in schedule for them) but we will do our best to accommodate you if we can. There will be an additional cost of between £15-30 per hr depending on the property and availability cannot be confirmed until the day.
As these are private accommodations within residential areas it is difficult for us to arrange this without it getting in the way of incoming/outgoing guests or residents in the building. If you are booking a studio at Ferryman Apartments, you can leave your luggage in a cupboard in the lobby at your own risk, but we cannot offer this at other properties. Instead you may want to try: bagbnb.com as they offer places in Southsea to leave luggage from £5 per day.
Yes, we know it’s a pain to have to lug too much from home. We have highchairs, travel cots and some toys to keep toddlers entertained. Just let us know in advance if you wish to book these for your stay as we have a limited supply.
The prices quoted on the website already take length of stay into consideration and offer discounts accordingly, however we may be able to offer further discounts in certain scenarios, such as bookings longer than 1 month or ongoing Mon-Fri bookings. In these cases it’s best you get in touch with your requirements and we will take it from there.