Criccieth Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Graham - Verified booking

  Despite all of the points below we really enjoyed our stay at Y Stabal and the cottage provided what we needed.

  If you book knowing these points in advance, adjust expectations, and go out of the prime cost period it can provide a warm dry base for a pleasant holiday. We were lucky and caught the week of summer, if it had been wet the lack of internet access and inability to stream movies would have been more irritating. Take an old laptop and some DVDs with you, they saved the day entertainment wise for us. Cottage has a WiFi hub but "no internet access", which would be a problem if bad weather kept you indoors. Mobile 4G signal was available but only outside the cottage, so again this is weather dependent. It is generally in need of a bit of TLC, but on the plus side you are not scared of accidentally scratching or chipping the walls or breaking one of the fittings. The door to the garden would only lock if door lifted as you close it. The picnic table in the garden had one of the 4 seats broken and tied/marked with pink washing line. The outdoor paving slabs are in places broken, uneven, and rock a bit when stepped on. There is comfortable parking for 2 cars, and 3 would be possible. There is only one set of keys though. The shower tray did not drain fast enough and you had to be careful to avoid overflows, but the shower was ok otherwise. There is only one small two slot toaster, the bread I brought did not fit in it and I had to toast each end of the slices separately. One of the kitchen dining table legs fell off by itself. Some of the kitchen chair assembly bolts were loose and rattly, but chairs ok once finger tightened. Owner was easy to contact via text and notified of some of these as we found them, he came mid week and fixed a curtain rail that had broken the week before, he said he would be up there again at the weekend to check some of the other items. We found the cottage to be missing things like extra toilet rolls, kitchen handwash (practically empty), washing up liquid, dish cloths/pads, dishwasher tabs, bin bags, and there were no extra blankets in case of cold weather. There was no property manual, just a single sheet with WiFi password and instructions for used linen at end of week. We had no idea how to adjust the heating, not that we really needed to, but the owner, Huw, did say text him any questions and he seemed quite approachable. There are no books/games/DVDs. There is no DVD player. The wall mounted LG TV (with one HDMI socket) is approx 32" and looks very small if you dont move the sofa nearer to it. We didnt need to use the washing machine in the shed so cannot advise on its condition/usability. The cottage has obviously been used a lot and is showing signs of wear/tear, and is in need of a complete refit to command top price, but it has provided us with a perfectly usable base for a week's cycling and walking in a very nice area. The view of the mountains and Moel Hebog from the garden is superb. If the people staying in the adjoining property are quiet and without young children the garden is a pleasant place to hang out. We could of done with some lounger chairs, and ended up taking kitchen/dining chairs outside to sit on. There is noise from the nearby main road, but you can still hear the sheep calling to each other and the birds twittering. With the roof vents open at night the traffic noise is a constant and noticeable drone however.

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• Miles - Verified booking

  A brilliant property in a superb location.

  The decoration and furniture was first class with ample cutlery, crockery, glasses and 'white goods'. There is ample storage in kitchen and bedrooms. All beds were comfortable, clean and fresh with good quality towels and bed linen. There were a few points which require attention from your cleaning staff and their reporting of faults. Overall we had the impression the property had not been cleaned immediately before our arrival as there was visible dust on some hard surfaces and the lounge floor made bare feet dirty, a problem with a 2yrs. old. A number of the bathrooms had issues upon our arrival. On the top floor double bedroom the toilet seat was fitted too far back and loose. The shower cubicle was wonderful but the handheld shower bracket was broken and came away. A small section of the privacy film on the window was missing and appeared to be cut. On the middle floor the shower door of the quadrant shower was off the runners. (this was fixed by the plumber who came to fit the outside toilet which was not fitted on arrival) The mixer tap on the roll top bath had one spoke of the tap top missing (again noted by the plumber and reported) The window in the bathroom has dropped making it very difficult to open, and more difficult to shut. The ground floor bathroom toilet handle is old and loose, I suspect fitted the wrong way round. The rear gate was locked and unusable as the 'key safe' number was not the same as the front door and the new number not provided. The seating in the rear garden was great but, with the exception of the loungers, there was a mix of cushions only one of which was purpose made for one chair. This seems like a long list of 'complaints', they aren't ! They are observations to ensure minor issues are fixed before they escalate into major problems. None of them made any difference to our overall satisfaction with a fantastic property and wonderful holiday. A final couple of thoughts - a rotary line would be useful. In these days of economy a tumble dryer is not the only answer to drying clothes. A few more instructions on how to uses the 'white goods' and the central heating (not that we needed it !)

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• Nicola - Verified booking

  This house is just perfect.

  It had everything we had hoped for in our holiday home plus more! From the outside the view is amazing, even on a cloudy day the beach looked stunning from the front windows. Once inside the house appears to magically become bigger than it looks from the outside. The ground floor, en suite accommodation was comfortable for my elderly father. He just needed a support to get up the two stairs into the property but the pathway / doorway allowed for plenty of space for his walking frame. From the lounge and dining room area you could again appreciate the beautiful view. It could also comfortably sit at least 10 guests for dinner around the table. (More if we had used the table extension and the additional chair which are provided). The ground floor kitchen had every utensil required. And plenty of crockery and cutlery for all meals. Each bedroom was comfortable and cosy. The beds, furniture and accessories all beautiful and in keeping with Criccieth's seaside location. The bathrooms were plentiful - never having to queue for a shower! And there was always lots of hot water when required. The top floor was our favourite, with a modern second kitchen, 2 additional en suite bedrooms and a lounge/ dining area again with amazing views. Although no allocated parking we never had trouble finding a space on the road, even on thr sunniest days. This house was such a perfect family location, the welcome hamper was a lovely surprise with treats for all ages of our party. The games and books supplied in the lounge were appreciated and enjoyed by all. The children loved its proximity to Cadwaliders ice cream shop and got into the habit of popping across the road to collect their dessert most evenings. The fish and chip shop was also rated highly by all! And obviously being able to walk within a couple of minutes to the beach, castle, park or high street added to the convenience of this house. We definitely recommend Gwynle and hope to return before too long. Thank you.

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• Megan - Verified booking

  The location is great, the beds are comfy and it was really warm.

  But there are some big issues which must be resolved before anyone else stays at the property. - The leaking shower which comes through the ceiling and caused electrical issues and a huge mess to be cleaned up every time. - The draining board sink leaks into the cabinet underneath and really really smells. - The oven is absolutely filthy and filled the kitchen with smoke when we went to use the grill. - The property is in need of a proper clean, there were cobwebs everywhere. The slate floor downstairs needs to be mopped, we cleaned it with a cloth on our hands and knees when we arrived and when we left and it was absolutely filthy. - The fridge really needs to be replaced as it is missing shelves and is mouldy and rusty. The dishwasher also did not drain properly and was filled with dirty water when we went to empty it. - The toilet seat in the downstairs toilet is broken and needs to be replaced. - There is no welcome book/instructions with the property at all, needs information on the bins and how to leave the property on check out, local information, how to use the heating etc. There was also no washing up liquid when we arrived or cloths to wash up with and no tea towels. There aren't toilet brushes in every loo and there is no mop to be able to clean the floor. - There aren't enough drinking glasses for the number of guests in the cottage, we had to have water out of a mug or random wine glass. Also the metal sheet pans for the oven are rusty and unusable. We did feedback most of this to the owner on our stay. The fence was broken on arrival due to the recent storm and this was fixed during our stay as we have a dog which we were grateful for. Also the shower tray was blocked and this had some unblocker put down it, but the rest of the issues stand and need to be resolved before the property is safe and comfortable for future guests.

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• Jane - Verified booking

  We had a lovely stay - just a few things that we would like to recommend.

  The sofa for us "oldies" was extremely low - difficult to get in and out of. Therefore we would sit a lot at the dining room table - however - you really should put some felt pads on the bottom of the dining chair legs, as they created a lot of scraping noise for the folks below. The towels need to be replaced - once wet they smelt very musty - that indicates that they need new ones. We even tried washing them to improve the smell - but that did not help :( It would have been perfect to have some sort of sun shade or umbrella on the deck - it was lovely to sit out there but only when the sun went down. The outdoor cushions were somewhat dirty and need a good clean. Also really need some room darkening drapes in the bedrooms - only the front bedroom had a drape. We were confused regarding garbage requests as there was one set of instructions in the book and another pinned to the board in the entry way - we went by the book - thereby missing that garbage should go out on the Tuesday night - although we did not have any by then - there was some left by previous guests that we did not know about. Notice should be consistent as the book said garbage goes out on Thursday night - which was NOT the case. Lastly we were surprised that the trains started at 6:45 am and then ran every hour until around 9 pm - the noise can shake and rattle the house - so it would have been good to be told that this was the case. We learned to put up with it. On the positive side the TV was great - nice big size and moveable so it could be seen from many angles. The view was amazing - the proximity to the beach and the town was fantastic. We did have a lovely week. Thanks, Jane

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