School Holidays 2017 Cottages In Harlech

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Tracey - Verified booking

  Very disappointing on multiple levels.

  The Matholwch flat is showing serious signs of lack of maintenance and cleaning that ruined our stay. Astonishing that some of our feedback below has already been mentioned by previous visitor reviews and nothing has been done. To be honest we were glad to leave and would not recommend this property. Expected far better from a propery owned by the Cadw. Bedroom: - TV remote intermittant. Needs new batteries. Ensuite: - Unable to use under basin cupboard . A long term water leak has water damaged the shelf. Inside cupboard smells of damp/mould. You can see a previous botched repair to the bottle trap. - Basin tap plumbed incorrectly. When you select cold, you get hot water. - Towel rail filthy. Didn't work in electric mode and is coming away from the wall. When the hot water valve was opened, only half the towel rail filled with tepid water (clearly full of air and needs bleeding). We could not dry our towels for the duration of the 2-week stay. - No fresh towels supplied at the end of first week of stay. - Both ceiling extractor fan grilles clogged with grey dust/lint. Several clumps fell onto us whilst using the ensuite. - Shower wall caddy coming off the wall at an angle. Shampoo / soap kept sliding off. - Shower tile grout was dirty. - Shower silicon sealant was mouldy. - Shower waste smelt very bad. Underside of the chrome cap was thick with mould/grime. - Toilet brush was filthy with specks of brown on the brush and brown residue in base of container. - No shelf / mugs above basin to put toiletries. Clearly been removed as both supports are still present in the wall. - No hooks to hang toiletry bags / clothes / towels. Kitchen: - Sink plug hole smells very bad. - Fridge cabinet door mis-aligned. Difficulty closing to keep food cool. - Dishwaster cabinet door mi-aligned. - Bottom oven: Temperature labels have been rubbed off fascia. Difficult to set a temperature. - Top combi oven/microwave: Internal light doesn't work. Difficult to see food cooking. - Both can openers broken. - All knives (in the wooden knife block) blunt. - Insufficient (only 4 sets) cutlery, plates, mugs, glasses. Constantly washing-up or using dishwasher twice daily. - Kettle/Toaster electrical wall socket loose. - Kettle needs descaling to remove brown deposits. Living Room: - Rug filthy. Totally inappropriate style means it cannot be effectively vacuum cleaned. - Roman blind coming off the wall from continuous use of the pull chain. - TV remote intermittant. Needs new batteries. - No heat when radiator valves opened on cold nights. (Issue experiened by other residents who were advised there was a problem with Building Managemenet System heat pump). - Intermittant and slow WiFi. Parking: - Every day we returned from sightseeing, there was no parking in any of the 5 reserved bays. Harlech staff just shrugged when complaints made. Had to wait (sometimes for up to 30-mins) until general public vacated reserved bays. Even when bays were blocked with cones, general public visitors ignored. Mini-buses/trade vans parked on yellow cross hatched area, so very difficult to get out. - Thorny rose bushes adjacent to one of the allocated parking bays (nr cafe wall). Needs to be trimmed right back (or replaced with soft leaf plants) to prevent scratches to persons and/or car bodywork.

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• John - Verified booking

  If, like us, you like long walks with the dogs followed by a relaxing glass of wine in your patio/garden then retire to watch your favourite TV, then this is not the place for you.

  There were a couple of inaccuracies in the descriptive & one glaring omission that if we’d seen any of them they would have precluded us booking here. The descriptive stated it had a Smart TV, this was not the case, the TV was being used as a monitor to view the freesat so just live programs with no facility to pause or rewind. I texted the number on discovering this & queried whether this was the case & got a terse, in my opinion rude, one word text “correct”. This was followed up with an apology 15 mins later when they obviously realised the detail was incorrect. Fortunately I was able to use the Xbox, (after calling my son to set up an account), & downloaded the iPlayer, Netflix apps that way. But if you’re not technically minded this could be tricky. The descriptive stated: “The enclosed courtyard is the perfect place to relax and unwind after a busy day out and about, dine alfresco and in the evening” but it fails to mention that the adjoining restaurant has a bar area outside so when sitting in the courtyard you have the drinkers in the bar sat next to you with just a small wall separating you, this also doesn’t stop the smoke from the smokers. The glaring omission also involves the courtyard as on arrival you are met with this in the welcome pack: “You might on occasion see delivery people delivering supplies to the cafe next door through the shared access at the bottom of the garden. They will walk along the path along the back wall through the wooden gates. They should leave quickly but they are sometimes absent minded and leave the gate open (mind your pets)” This meant that we had to go outside with the dogs every time they wanted to go out in case they ran into the car park/road immediately outside the gate. Both these issues rendered the outside area neither private nor secure. As stated previously, if the cottage descriptive on the Sykes site had been accurate & clear the we would not have booked here.

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• Geff - Verified booking

  The property is in a great location and is spacious.

  Unfortunately the property requires some significant TLC. On arrival the first thing you notice is two plant pots on the doorstep containing long dead plants which isn't very welcoming. Then unlocking the door is a problem as you have to jiggle the key around and push and pull the door in order to get the key to turn. It's the same on the inside so potentially a H&S issue. In the kitchen the microwave was filthy with burnt on food so not used. On some of the pans and a baking tray the non-stick coating had been rubbed down to the base metal and on some it was lifting so not good to use. The dish washer was, like in the microwave, dirty. In the downstairs shower room one of the shower doors was hanging loose on just one of the rollers so at risk of falling off. The toilet brush there and in the upstairs bathroom were both absolutely filthy - stained and with dried faeces. It was impossible not to notice that because they were the cheap plastic kind in open containers. The full length mirror in one of the bedrooms was covered in stains as if someone had spat on the mirror and it had run down. The pillows were either old and worn out or were new and cheap as they were completely flat. The electric heaters were inadequate for the size of the house and came on at odd times. I found it impossible to either alter the temperature or the timing as they displayed a "blocked" notice when that was attempted. The starter pack for the solid fuel fire that is mentioned in the listing was absent. The furniture in the lounge was however comfortable and the outside space was very good. Harlech is one of my favourite places in the world so I was pleased to be there. The property however was a let down but it only needs a relatively small amount spent on it to bring it up to a decent standard and also for it to be cleaned and maintained by someone with more commitment than is evident at the moment.

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• Jonathan - Verified booking

  Lovely cottage exactly as described.

  It's in a great location, literally a ten second walk out of the back gate to the castle visitors centre. There is also a shop just up the road for bits and bobs, a bistro within a minutes walk and you are about a minutes walk from the high street. The living room is big but very cosy, the kitchen is well equipped with a little utility room just off it with a washer, dryer and a dish washer. Next to the kitchen is another room with a two seater sitee a TV and a PlayStation. I can imagine this would be a good place for children to have there own space away from the main living room. Upstairs there are three bedrooms, one with amazing views of the castle, a small room with a set of bunk beds in, definitely a kids room as it's got a book case with some children's books in. There is also another bedroom, the biggest of the three, you have also got a nice veiw of the mountains from this room, though its not a full veiw as other houses are in the way, but from the bed you can lay there and see the mountains. There are two bathrooms, one downstairs with a toilet and shower and a bigger family bathroom upstairs with a bath and an electric shower over it. We had a welcome pack of milk, bread, butter and biscuits . Parking as stated is for two cars, just a note that it's quite a tight squeeze through the gates though. Apart from that though, I can't actually find any fault at all. We would definitely recommend and we will definitely go again.

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• Dorothy - Verified booking

  Lovely cottage, exceptional standards of comfort, especially in the upstairs bedroom areas, nice touches such as local soaps and the whitest fluffiest towels ever.

  Very good house book, telling you all you want/need to know about the cottage, it’s surroundings and appliances. The cottage allows dogs, downstairs only, and helpfully put in the baby gate for us to prevent our nosy Cockapoo exploring further than she should! Covers were on the sofa and plenty blanket throws supplied to cover other furnishing, so we didn’t need to use our own - we kept them for the beach instead as the weather was amazing and so are the surrounding beaches. The well stocked kitchen has an aga and a stove, and lots of herbs and spices if you need them. There is a coffee machine and beans, as well as tea and sugar provided. Helpfully the cottage book has a diagram of the kitchen area and tells you what is in each cupboard and drawer. The garden is lovely, our dog had a great time exploring. It is on a steep slope though, with slate and slab paths, so not great for younger children (you would need eyes in the back of your head) or those with mobility issues. The access to the cottage is steep and tricky, but this is spelt out in the travel instructions provided. Fortunately the main road is not very busy and there is room near to the wall to manoeuvre your car in. The drive/parking area is shared with another cottage, but the parking spaces are clearly marked. We had a great week, and hope to come back sometime. Highly recommend this cottage and its location.

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