Christmas Cottages In Snowdonia

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Natalie - Verified booking

  I wanted a traditional stone cottage overlooking a great view of Snowdonia, and this place promised to tick all my boxes.

  Out of the 3 Cyffdy cottages we chose Arenig because the kids wanted the bunk beds. It's a lovely cottage with original features, log burner, comfy beds, and supplied blankets, hot water bottles, games, books. Kids loved the trampoline on the driveway green, and donkeys came to the gate. On the downside, the cottage receives no natural light, and half of the lights are blue-temp LED. I would strongly suggest to the owner to change all the lights to warm temperature. The blue light in the bedrooms and kitchen feels like an office. :( After reading the other reviews I admit I was a little dismayed not to receive any gifts on my arrival. A couple of welcome items always warms the guest to be on your side, especially if you're leaving a letter apologising for broken things (that didn't affect us, e.g. no shelves inside fridge door). The shower drips water down the bath tub sides and all over the floor. I wondered if the owners had even tested it out. I texted the owner, they just apologised and advised to mop up with the bathmats. I would suggest a longer shower shield window, or changing the whole bath to a walk-in shower, before the bathroom gets mould rot from the constant water. Heating only comes on certain hours, so we arrived at a cold cottage. But there was a plentiful supply of wood for our whole stay, and a burner that kicks out plenty heat. When the central heating does crank up (we had to bleed one radiator) it gets so hot you have to open the windows to breathe. We managed the balance in the end. The TV was slow and hard to work, but we managed to watch programmes fine - something that I don't take for granted in rental stays! The kitchen has good provisions generally; crockery and a few other bits like teabags, but I felt it missed a cupboard of condiments like salt and oil, the things I didn't want to travel with. All in all, it was a beautiful cottage for a good price stay, close to Lynn Tegid (the lake in Bala), and Bala village with a Co-op, Spar, baker, butcher. But I think our next Snowdonia stay would be somewhere more like Betws-y-Coed where there is more action going on.

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• Elizabeth - Verified booking

  A lovely cottage, and beautiful setting, quiet and with lovely views both sides.

  All was clean and well maintained. Pros and cons to all 3 bedrooms: Loft bedroom has the best views and best bed, and black-out blinds in the window, but the steep and uneven staircase is unenclosed with no door so less private and hard to block out light and noise from the rest of the house. Being a loft room, much of the space is too low to walk upright in. Our kids loved hanging out in there. Small double bedroom (middle floor) has a useful built in cupboard and is fine except for having the bathroom macerator the other side of the thin internal wall from the bathroom. The macerator is about as subtle as a pneumatic drill when in use. Twin bedroom has lovely views but mattresses are not great (very wobbly). Living-dining room is comfy, but sofa seating seats 4 comfortably or 6 at a squash. Piano is a nice extra, if you are not fussy about the tuning. WiFi worked well (no phone reception in the area). Kitchen although small is well equipped. Although I have outlined some niggles above, we had a lovely stay here. There was lots to do within a reasonable drive (and despite the apparently remote location, a fabulous coffee shop within walking distance!) and the cottage was comfortable for hunkering down in when rain stopped play.

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• John - Verified booking

  We really enjoyed our stay at this beautiful cottage over the new year.

  The cottage is really comfortable and warm. It has a fully kitted out kitchen. We were able to cook a roast dinner with no problems. There is a stunning private garden which I imagine would be beautiful in the summer and incredible views over the Welsh hills. Even though it was cold and wet outside we were always nice and warm inside. The heating goes off at 10pm but there's a log burner and plenty of logs if you get cold. We were a family of 2 adults and 2 kids but on NYE my parents come over. The living is large enough for 6 people to sit comfortably. The addition of lots of board games provided by the host was brilliant. This kept us busy and having a laugh for hours. Bala is about a 5 minute drive away where there is lots of pubs and a couple of restaurants. There also an award winning butchers which we would certainly recommend. The pubs are ok but the food is terrible so I would advise either cooking in or ordering a take away. There is plenty of walks near by. Also Bala lake in the summer gets very busy with lots of water sport activities available. Thanks for our stay!

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• Sheila - Verified booking

  We found Ty Hir a comfortable place to stay with all the necessities for a relaxing break.

  The single track up to the barn which is adjacent to the owners home is a little daunting on first go, but soon becomes less so. It feels like you are in top of the world when you reach the accomodation and the views are amazing! Nb the direct view from the living room is disappointing but to each side, beautiful. If it were my place I'd swap the dresser for a comfy couch to sit with morning coffee and take in the view of Cnicht. We had a slight problem with the electricity supply on the first evening and morning but the owners were on hand for the weekend and were very friendly, approachable and helpful. It was sorted before we left. There is a private working farm next to the accomodation and the farmers there were very friendly. I would say this is probably not the best a property for people with mobility limitations as the parking outside the property is on quite rough, uneven ground. There is a short gentle sloping path from the gate to the accomodation.

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• Tara - Verified booking

  This was a nice house in a very beautiful location.

  Check in and out were very easy, and lots of detailed information was provided for guests. Our only issue was that we have small children, and the only room where a travel cot could fit was the attic room. We weren't expecting this, as the booking suggests that children can be easily accommodated. Going up and down an extremely steep and narrow-stepped stairway with a baby and a two-year-old was treacherous. Also, as it's the attic room, you can hear absolutely everything from below and also everything going on in the room, so the other people we were staying with could hear our children throughout the night, and as they are also early risers, this was disruptive. Also, do bring your own hand soap and toilet roll, as these were in short supply and we needed to replace these in the house on day two. If we didn't have children with us though, this would have been an ideal place to stay as it really is lovely.

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