Romantic Lodges & Log Cabins In Wales

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Nicola - Verified booking

  RAW SEWAGE AND RUDE We're really disappointed to have to write this review after looking forward to this holiday for nearly a year.

  We noticed a smell at the property, especially when on the decking - there is quite a bit of construction going on with houses being built, so we thought it may be that or as we're by the sea, stagnant water. We opened a bedroom window and saw raw sewage all over the path to the back of the property - huge amounts of toilet paper and feces. We'd already received a message from Menai Holiday Cottages to say a plumber was coming to fix a toilet seat so we informed him as soon as he arrived. As he was leaving he said someone would be out "in a day or two". I assumed I would get an update on this and was about to chase it up, as we were obviously concerned as it is a health and safety issue, but a plumber turned up that evening and resolved the matter. This was fine, we appreciated the speedy response, although would have appreciated communication to confirm someone was coming. At the end of the day, we've paid for a holiday and we purposefully chose a property that we could "stay in" - with a kitchen to cook, a garden for my baby to play in etc and this was affected by an engineer pumping sewage away for hours that evening. The next day we got a message to say the plumbers report stated baby wipes were the issue, and if we were flushing them to stop. I wanted to make sure everyone was aware we hadn't caused the issue. Firstly, we have never flushed baby wipes, but secondly the amount of sewage on the path was far too much to have been caused by us in 24 hours, it was clearly an ongoing issue. The receptionist couldn't put me through, so I left a message, and Helen from Menai Holiday Cottages called me back. It was an extremly poor customer service experience. Helen was angry that I'd supposedly left a message accusing her of blaming us for the baby wipes. This was clearly an internal miscommunication, because I'd never used the word "blame" and simply wanted them to note that it wasn't caused by us. It was unprofessional, and upsetting. On Friday we got another message to say the plumber was coming back out. I'm assuming calls go through to a call centre because it was always someone different and I was never able to be transferred to the person who sent me the original message and noone seems to fully understand whats happening. When I asked why the plumber was coming again I was told the toilet was blocked, and I had called them on Tuesday to say it was blocked with baby wipes!! Very incorrect and clearly communication isn't great/ messages are getting mixed up as different people deal with them. We waited 90 minutes for a plumber who never arrived, and I never received any communication to say the pumber had or hadn't been/ or there was any further issue. What is particularly upsetting is that noone has ever just simply said sorry this happened on your holiday, or when I called back asked if everything was now okay. There was no customer care or concern. We've had our holiday affected by raw sewage, and yet instead of feeling like we mattered, I was being treated rudely. When we got back off holiday, I sent a message via the app to say we were unhappy with our experience and again, the customer service seems off. Still no apology, and instead I was told the issue had caused the owner "a hefty bill" and I was accused of stealing a pillow. The hefty bill is not my concern - it has nothing to do with us, is part of running a property business and to even mention it to us implies we are in fact being blamed? And to mention a missing pillow in the same conversation as raw sewage is absurd. We have been on many holidays, there has occasionally been a smashed glass etc and we have never, ever been messaged afterwards! It is pathetic. Perhaps your property checks should include inspecting the outside of the property for raw sewage, as well as supposedly missing pillows. This experience has unfortunately put a dampner on what was meant to be a special holiday. We certainly wouldn't return and have also been put off using Sykes again too - I've asked multiple times for contact details to speak to someone further about these issues and my messages have been ignored. Finally, just a few more pointers about the property: • The decking is unsafe - the side railing is slanted, overall very wobbly and there is a big gap between the door and where the decking starts - perfect size for a child's leg to slip through! Definitely not safe for children, be extra careful if they're on the decking • The BBQ in the shed is dirty and has ashes in the bottom • The description states there is beach equipment to use. I asked before our arrival if there was a windbreaker, to save us buying one/bringing one with us, but was told no. There's actually 2 in the shed • Property checks should include checking bulbs - 2 have gone in the lounge area and one has gone above the mirror in the main bathroom • The description states there is two gardens - an "enclosed front garden" with lawn, gravel, furniture and an "enclosed rear garden" with lawn, gravel and storage. This isn't true. There is no rear lawned garden. • General cleanliness needs improving. There were huge cobwebs with dead flies above the curtains in the lounge, lots of dust on the fireplace and the skirting boards, and stains on some of the blinds. Ultimately noone pays their hard earned cash on a holiday and expects to have to deal with raw sewage. Perhaps if this had happened to them on their holiday, they would have been more sympathetic.

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• Helen - Verified booking

  We have just returned home from Orchard Lodge as a group of 6 including 2 children and 2 young dogs.

  The below sums up our experience: Spacious lodge, Nice welcome binder with information on the lodge and local area, Nice amount of parking available on shared drive with us having two cars and the other accommodation having 2 with still plenty of room. Very well equipped with good kitchen supplies and family activities. TV with a Netflix account and on demand however no live tv, Brilliant set up for dogs with fully enclosed garden however an apple tree on left hand side of the lodge had a lot of fallen apples. With young dogs this wasn’t ideal, however we used a spare piece of fencing to block the gap near the hot tub which meant the dogs were not able to get to the apples (as poisonous to dogs). As a suggestion a permanent fence or gate to avoid this would be helpful. The living room area was carpeted and was a bit grubby, having wipe clean flooring in this area would be more hygienic. Bbq and outdoor furniture/decking wasn’t very clean and covered in bird poo. Dog poo in garden when we arrived. Large hole dug in garden. Wi-Fi is really temperamental and doesn’t reach well to back bedroom. I think this could be easily resolved with a Wi-Fi extender. However it also stopped working completely twice during our stay and can only be reset in the other holiday let. The hot tub is a massive bonus for the lodge. It was set to 39 when we arrived and keeps its heat extremely well. The lights are a nice touch and add to the atmosphere in the evening. We did have a few issues with the hot tub at one point but messaged the number provided and they quickly sent someone out to sort it. Overall we had a lovely time. The small things mentioned didn’t affect the holiday just some suggestions for future. We would recommend the lodge to anyone looking for a reasonably priced dog friendly lodge.

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• Lauren - Verified booking

  This was our first time booking a lodge like this and we were not disappointed.

  . before leaving we were a little concerned because of some reviews on the site.. but they couldn’t be more wrong.. the lodge was beautiful it was rustic and very Swiss like… it was clean and tidy and just amazing… we loved everything about it.. if I was going to be extremely critical I would say that the bed were a slight bit uncomfortable ( but I’ve slept on much worse) but I’ve come from my home with a memory foam so I wouldn’t even bother to address it.. the room were a beautiful size and easy to warm up it wasn’t cold at all… it was so quiet inside even with noise outside it couldn’t be heard inside…. The lodge came with a beautiful sauna that we took complete advantage of daily, it also had the best bath I’ve ever been it it was massive and a whirlpool type.. amazing times.. the kitchen was well stocked and the 5 nights we wanted for nothing.. it was a please to cook and eat there.. the views where beautiful and the morning coffee on the bench outside was a welcome break.. i absolutely loved it there… a few people had mentioned the shower but it was fine I honestly have showered in far worse water pressure.. I think people need to understand this isn’t a vote it’s a wooded cabin in the hills… the water was warm the cabin was lovely and warm I can’t fault it i think the owner had some amazing, and I would 100 % recommend it and we will be returning.. thanks for allowing us to stay in you beautiful property.. it was a pleasure x

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• Rachel - Verified booking

  When we arrived at acorn lodge, it had not been serviced and no one had been in the lodge since the last family.

  This was not a great start to our holiday, my youngest daughter was crying and wanting to return home. We could not get hold of the owner, but Sykes contacted a cleaner to come. We had to wait over an hour, then another hour for cleaning. Not ideal after a 7 hour drive. Due to this the property was cold and no hot water on arrival… not even a toilet roll! Unfortunately the wardrobes and cupboards were rather old and smelled rather musty so we didn’t use them and had to live out of our suitcases for the week, in addition the spare pillows were in the wardrobes and could not be used because of the smell. The lodge itself was in a lovely quiet location and of a good size and layout. The sauna was a nice addition. However we felt a little updating and a bit more care is needed. The water pressure in the shower was very poor and not very easy for a hair wash. In the kitchen there was no washing up sponge or washing up liquid (I have never experience that in a holiday cottage) also the tea, and sugar containers were empty but dirty and the small amount of coffee was turning grey and rock solid - so had been there a while without being checked or cleaned. Also no spare toilet rolls were left in the building or spare bin bags - which was handy when ours split whilst taking it out of the bin, we we ending up having to carry the whole kitchen bin to the bin area to tip it all in. With a bit more care and attention the lodge could be a lovely place to stay.

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• Craig - Verified booking

  We had a really nice time in Acorn lodge.

  Cosy when warm, bed was comfortable and really enjoyed the luxury of the sauna an jacuzzi. The site was very quiet, but not easy to get to. However there are a few things to improve for us to return to, or recommend, these being as follows. Lounge was not thoroughly cleaned with crumbs and items under and behind furniture, alot of kitchen utensils needed to be cleaned before use, shower was next to useless to use as no pressure, needs an electric power shower. Toilet cistern button in small toilet stayed down so did not stop flushing several times, main bathroom door catch did not retract fully, so nearly locked in bathroom a couple of times, hot and cold taps plumbed in wrong way around, trim coming off of jacuzzi. Kitchen cooker hood not working, kitchen cupboard door nearly falling off, 1 kitchen chair too dangerous to use as falling apart, tv remote had no batteries in and the other one did not work properly, No key to open door in bedroom to access balcony, outside key safe broken. The welcome book is very tatty and falling apart with pages falling out, and some typed up information is crossed out with pen, with written in new information. Not very professional. Items to have in lodge, I suggest music system, full length mirror, kitchen spatula, clock radio in bedroom, windows not clear and improve garden and steps to match other well looked after lodges on site. However after all this we still enjoyed our stay.

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