“This is a lovely property in a great location and we would return BUT we found it dirty and in need of some attention.”
The property smelt generally musty. There was dust, cobwebs and dirt throughout. Tables were marked and sticky. Duvet covers had buttons missing, mould was evident in various places, there were light bulbs out (we replaced a few from the kitchen drawer), ill fitting doors, a missing lamp shade, no pillow protectors used at all. Spare pillows provided without pillow cases. Light pull cords were black and disgusting. There were cigarette butts outside the back door. One velux window appears to have a piece of snooker cue attached by a jubilee clip hanging from it by way of an opener. One ceiling rose was hanging off. One of the living room curtains was hanging off the rail.
Things future guests need to know! There were no non-slip areas or mats in any of the baths or showers and the tiled floors were very slippery when wet too so take your own non-slip mats. The towels supplied were too small and suitable only for children. We used our beach towels for showering. The bottom bunk in the family room was very close to the top one and our tiny 4 year old struggled to sit up without banging her head so may not be suitable for older children.
The garden picnic table seated 6 adults at best and was tired, wonky and listed dreadfully when anyone stood up. We used our own chairs and the children sat on picnic blankets to allow us all to sit together to eat outside.
The heating can’t be turned off only down and coupled with the thick quilts it was too hot for august and made sleeping difficult even with all the windows open.
There is only 1 wardrobe in the property for 10 people. Two bedrooms have makeshift hanging rails which aren’t really fit for purpose and one had nothing.
There were no bin bags supplied and you’ll need to take the large swing bin size.
The info in the folder regarding rubbish collection is wrong. Both bins were emptied on Monday not one Monday and one Thursday. The wifi is patchy at best with 10 people in the house and doesn’t seem to reach upstairs.
Despite all of the negatives this house is a great holiday home, there’s virtually no passing traffic, the location is wonderful and the garden is gorgeous. The indoor furniture, mattresses and carpets were nice quality and it was lovely to get all 10 of us round one table! The three large sofas provide comfortable seating for everyone. There’s a great washer-dryer and a good size dishwasher. Two fridges are a great idea. There’s evidence of some recent decoration so we presumed that it is a work in progress and the real issue lies with a poor cleaning and maintenance service and before being asked, the reason we didn’t contact the owners during our stay is that we didn’t want to waste precious family time dealing with this or face a confrontation. We simply cleaned and tidied what we could and lived with the rest. We would all stay again and hopefully most of the issues would have been resolved. This isn’t the first review highlighting problems with cleanliness but I really hope it’s the last. We paid a lot of money and this was a very important milestone holiday for our family and it was a shame the same issues from a review in aug 2022 are ongoing.
Thank you Dawn for your feedback. Great to hear you would come back again despite some of the comments raised.
We do supply our contact details to all guests pre arrival and would have welcomed a call from you during your stay as we could have resolved the majority of these issues during your stay, to make it more comfortable.
For future guests reading this feedback, I would like the opportunity to comment on our setup:
- We provide a hand towel and bath towel per guest. Standard size towels. We don't provide bath sheets.
- Duvets are 12 tog rated for all seasons. We won't change them to a lower tog in the summer months as the weather in Wales can be changeable.
- We provide mattress protectors and additional pillow cases can be found in the airing cupboard for extra pillow protection if desired.
- Heating is set to a comfortable 19oC. The heating is programmed to only come on if the temperature falls below this level. Heating can be manually adjusted to suit, and every radiator in every room have a thermostat control. Alternatively, I could have adjusted the programme remotely.
- The picnic bench seats up to 8 people and with second bench provides additional outdoor seating for a further 3/4 people. We have plenty of room for a group up to 10 guests and the picnic benches have been checked and stabilised. I am also planning on replacing the picnic benches ready for Easter 2024.
- The "snooker" cue bracket in the Chapel bathroom allows guests to open the window easily, to allow for extra ventilation when necessary. Without this bracket some guests would find it hard to release the window. The ceiling rose has also been repaired
- We have a triple wardrobe in the family room. Unfortunately, due to the sloping ceilings in many of the bedrooms, it's impossible to have a full-sized wardrobe. We provide "contemporary" style rails with additional coat hangers instead, should guests require them. This is visible in the pictures.
The cottage is thoroughly cleaned between guests, with a deep clean arranged every 6 weeks. This doesn't stop spiders from reappearing, especially as we are located next to a wood, but it helps.
Hopefully this covers the majority of comments mentioned, and we look forward to welcoming you back again.
Kind regards,
Gary.
Property Owner