Holiday Apartments in Porthmadog

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Trevor - Verified booking

  The instructions given by Sykes to gain entry to the apartment are confusing.

  The address given for The Old Cornhill is No 6 (which is actually the number for the whole building. However, the Old Cornhill door has a Number 2 on it. But there are also two doors with Number 2 on them - OC and Cornhill Courtyard, which are sometimes let together as a single unit. You need to use the door at the back of the building, along the dank, rubbish strewn short alley way. There is however. a much easier way of locating the correct door. You are told to enter the courtyard and the OC entrance is round the back. Once in the courtyard, there are very clear nameplates next to each door, that identify The Old Cornhill and Cornhill Courtyard - that's what the location instructions should say. There are two key boxes – use the one on the left of the front door. And the 5 digit code you are given is incorrect as the key box has only 4 digits. You need to omit the 0 at the end of the number you are given. It seems to us that the apartment was renovated for holiday lets about 15 years ago and has been left to fall into decline ever since. The two sofas are saggy, shabby and uncomfortable and the cushion covers are stained. The mattress falls away at its edges as the edge springs have failed. There is a lot of black mould on the grout in the shower. The bathroom sink plug hole does not fit and your bowl of water will seep away whilst you are using it. The kitchen sink tap drips when on full cold. The front door is not very secure and better locks would be advisable. The windows are draughty and the wind whistles through them. The electrical items display stickers that state the last electrical test was in November 2022. There is an iron with a ‘failed – do not use’ sticker on it. There is an airer that has a broken catch so you have to lean it up against something otherwise it falls over. The oven door doesn’t close properly. The detergent drawer of the washing machine was full of black mould. The freezer is heavily frosted up and, as a result, we could only open one of the three drawers. The cooker hood filters smell strongly of grease. The kitchen is fairly well equipped but there are only 2 teaspoons and 2 mugs and a pair of tongs would be useful. One of the wine glasses was cracked. Many of the glasses have dishwasher burn. We could hear every footstep made by the users of the apartment above us and, from our bathroom, we could hear nearly every word said by the users of the apartment alongside. The listing says there is a patio or outdoor seating area. This takes the form of a few pieces of broken and dirty garden furniture against the wall in the courtyard where residents park and the bins are stored. The bins were overflowing and there was rubbish on the ground in the courtyard. One bin, in particular, was overflowing when we arrived and was only emptied a fortnight later just as we were leaving. The gateway to the courtyard is very narrow and the courtyard has room for 2 cars if they are parked well. The spaces outside the building, on the road, were always taken and so we parked in one of the 20 or so free-to-park spaces outside the Tafarn Pencei pub 50 yards along the road. We managed to get a space there every time we needed one. The listing states the apartment has a TV. Being 15 years old, it is not a smart TV and only offers the freeview channels, rather than what current day expectations of a TV would be. The remote control for the TV does not work (we changed the batteries and it still did not work) so you have to use the channel and sound buttons on the back of the TV to turn on, change channel and sound. The USB port on the side of the TV does not work. There is a blu-ray player but it and the TV do not ‘talk to one another’ and so the blu-ray player is useless. We reported this to Sykes Cottages AKA Menai Holidays by phone on our second day (when they called us to reset the router as the lady downstairs had a problem with wi-fi) and did not receive a response for 5 days. They sent round a ‘technician’ in our absence to fix another problem with downstairs' access, as well as ours, but our problems were not even looked at, let alone fixed. The downstairs issue was "fixed" by the expedient of taping a card to one of the plug switches saying "do not turn off" - which card could only be read if it was lifted up - it was not placed so you could easily read the instruction. We reported this to Sykes/Menai via the portal as it was a weekend and the phone lines were closed, but never heard from them again. It seems they were only interested in appeasing the complaints from the tenant in Cornhill Courtyard, rather than the problems we were experiencing. They even closed our call before we got back from our day out and could receive my feedback as to whether the issue had been resolved or not. As it was a Saturday, phoning hte office resulted in a "we are closed" message, hence notifying them via the official channel of the Portal.

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• Julie - Verified booking

  The apartment is in a picturesque location and even on a rainy day the view from the lounge is lovely, looking over the harbour to the Ffestiniog railway (well worth a visit).

  It is cosy, comfortable (apart from the bedding) and the overall layout is good and well thought out, incorporating some original features. Just 2 of us stayed from the original 4 that had booked and we used the larger bedroom. The wet room which serves this front facing bedroom is quirky and stylish however, the rear bedroom is very compact with just enough room to shuffle around the bed avoiding the wall mounted television. The dressing room area attached to the rear bedroom really is just a lean to with a corrugated plastic roof and gives the impression of a cheap solution. The grass turtles on the wall are damp and mouldy – this seems to be an ongoing problem with this particular room. When we first walked into the apartment, there was a strong unpleasant odour; something like a mixture of fried food and curry which seemed to permeate every room. We managed to get rid of this by day 2 by opening the back door, ventilating well and buying a strong air freshener (the automatic one provided in the apartment was empty). Other reviewers have mentioned damp/fusty smells but to be honest, I could not detect this. I think the problem may be that the apartment is so well insulated (as stated in the guest information book) with inadequate ventilation. The chimney is sealed and the cooker hood is not actually vented out and has no filter. When you turn the cooker extractor on past the first setting, the upright cover blows off under the pressure of the fan, so any strong cooking smells have nowhere to go. To bring this accommodation up to the ‘stunning description’ it boasts, whoever undertakes the maintenance really needs to up their game. The freezer compartment door lock was broken so water constantly drips into the fridge and we couldn’t keep food frozen, only one light worked in the wet room, one was out in the cooker hood, and of the recessed ceiling lights – one in the dining area either constantly flickered or was out and it seems that when these lights are changed they don’t bother replacing them with the same type. Instead, cool white were replaced with warm white so you have a mix of white and yellow lighting which just smacks of laziness and lack of attention to detail. We found the bed itself comfortable but one thing they absolutely must do is to replace the cheap and nasty bedding with a good quality range that better reflects the price charged and the website description. The bedding provided was scratchy, the duvet cover was either faded or scorched – overall rubbish. We did not have any complaints about the general cleanliness of the apartment – overall was pretty good. Parking is provided outside but judging from the car dealership sticker, it looked like some thoughtful local had dumped their car in the middle of the 2 bay parking – it remained where it was all throughout our stay. The courtyard parking is only suitable for a midsized car but we were able to park in the area outside the café bar close by with no problem, although this might not be possible during busy times. The apartment is close to local shops and supermarkets with access to some truly stunning scenery – even when the weather is overcast. If you take a right out of the front door, you eventually end up at Borty Y Gest, a lovely walk along the coastline to an unspoilt seaside village. The apartment is in a very picturesque part of Porthmadog – just needs a bit of attention to bring it up to a stunning standard.

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• Judy - Verified booking

  I have had an enjoyable weeks stay in Cornhill Courtyard which is a studio apartment.

  The location of the apartment is superb. It is situated in the old historic area of Porthmadog Harbour and has a wonderful view straight out over the beautiful harbour which you couldn’t better! I also really liked the fact that the large main room is so light, bright and spacious. The kitchen and bathroom facilities were also fine. Once the sofa bed was up with the topper on top it was very comfortable . However, I did have some issues with the sofa bed. I was staying in the property on my own and as a 75-year-old woman with an arthritic hip, I did find it quite a struggle at times getting the bed up and putting it away. On one occasion the fabric loops got trapped inside and it then became impossible to get it out or put it up on my own. However the owner was extremely responsive and arranged within a couple of hours for the cleaning company to come and sort it out which they did. It needed two men to lift out the mattress extension in order to release the fabric flaps. I had felt concerned about the parking situation in August. However, in the event I was able to park right outside the apartment on three occasions and very close by on the other four days. From 4:30 pm onwards Porthmadog gradually quieten down and plenty of free parking then becomes available. Security of the property is very good as there is a padlocked gate into a small courtyard. Despite the issues with the sofa bed I am very glad I stayed in the property, as I had a very enjoyable weeks holiday. It was lovely to revisit Porthmadog, which I had visited a lot as a teenager and young person, when my parents had a caravan in the area.

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• Cheryl - Verified booking

  This was our second time at The Old Cornhill apartment so that in itself is a recommendation.

  It is a warm and comfortable holiday retreat with the most amazing views from the front window of the harbour and the mountains beyond. It is within easy walking distance of the centre of town whilst being in a very quiet area for night time. There are some stunning coastal and ancient oak woodland walks from the door or if feeling more adventurous short drives to some good mountains. The apartment was very clean with everything you need for an enjoyable stay included. The bed is very comfortable - it is low down as some people have commented on but that was not a problem for us, we took our own pillows as we prefer down pillows. The private car parking was a bonus as the harbour area can get very busy with cars. The shower was very good - great pressure. The kitchen is well equipped - we took our own sharp knives for food prep and tin foil to line the grill pan. The Ffestiniog and Welsh Mountain Railway is across the harbour and is a great place to spend some time watching the steam train being re-fuelled before setting off again. All in all, I would recommend this accommodation to anyone who loves a good view and has mobility - there is a set of stairs to climb with your belongings to get to the apartment as it is on the second floor but once in and unpacked, the effort is worth it. Climb the harbour steps near the apartment for outstanding views over the whole area - you can just see Snowdon.

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• Tina - Verified booking

  This is our second visit to the Captain’s Apartment in just two months.

  We loved it so much the first time we just had to come back! The cleanliness, which is of great importance to us as my husband has Myeloma, is the best I’ve found in any holiday rental in the UK as is the crockery, glassware and utensils selection in the kitchen. The view of the harbour and mountains is amazing and constantly changing as the weather changes. Sunsets are just beautiful and so amazing to watch through the open stable door as you eat an evening meal. The Good Mood restaurant, at the yacht club just two minutes walk away, is worth a visit when you don’t want to cook (dog friendly inside as well as outside) and a meander around the coast to Abersoch and to Barmouth are very well worth it. Superb views. Such a great base for exploring so many areas. The jewel in the crown, according to hubby at least, is being able to see the steam trains go in and out at the Ffestiniog railway station. I almost don’t want to give such a great review as we want to be able to go back again and again! What would make it even more amazing though is if the mattress in the small bedroom could be upgraded, or at least have a good memory foam topper on it (it’s really the only thing that I can make a slightly negative comment about!). Great apartment, great location. What more can you say?!

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