Christmas Cottages in Wales

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Sarah - Verified booking

  Problems Experienced with our Holiday.

  Front Door was insecure/not working. Unable to unlock and open or lock and secure. Bulb missing and Host was unable to replace. Shower Hose Broken. Very weak water pressure in both showers. Drainage problems - both in Shower and Kitchen Sink. This must be an ongoing issue and there was a plunger for the Sink close by. Main Blind in Living Area not working. High Standards Expected of Guests - outlined in the 'Welcome Pack' - yet High Standards not provided by Hosts. Strict Recycling Protocols but yet No Bin Bags. Only 1 spare Food Bag provided - for a family of 5 for 1 week. (These aren't things guests are able to bring as they are council provided.) Only 3 Dishwasher Tablets for a 7 Night Stay meaning we were unable to use the Dishwasher, with a large family we spent a lot of time washing dishes rather than enjoying time together. Toilet Seat upstairs is peeling away, very badly. Clean Towels provided were very smelly and not fit for use. Outside - All around the property was extremely slippery and dangerous to walk on. We couldn't let the children outside to play or explore as it was like an Ice Rink, with leaves and Slippery Algae. Outside light not working sufficiently which meant it was a struggle to go outside as soon as it got Dark, around 4pm. Hot Tub was dirty when we arrived. With Grit/Sand all in the bottom and on the seats. Grime was all around the Hot Tub. The staps were all broken and the Bar to lift the lid wasn't working. Very Rusty and Loose. The property felt very tired. We contacted the Host on Arrival to highlight some initial problems and we didn't have a response back. Not even the following day. The Host did turn up, unannounced, whilst we were in the Hot Tub. She verbally acknowledged our message from the previous evening and did hand us some Teaspoons that we had requested. We had to leave the Hot Tub so chemicals could be added. I feel a polite message in response to our message would have been welcomed. Or even a heads up to say they were on route to top the chemicals and supply Teaspoons. But communication was poor. Nothing was mentioned about the Door/Security issue. We contacted Sykes Cottages on Saturday. We were informed they would try and get hold of the Host and call us back. We didn't hear anything from either the Host if Tynddol Barn or Sykes Cottages so we had little other choice but to cut our Holiday short and Return home 2 days early. This has been very disappointing. I feel the advertised holiday property was very misleading. We were mis sold this holiday and are feeling extremely disappointed. *OWNER HAS NOW RESPONDED AND CLAIMED £185 FOR BROKEN HOT TUB HANDLE THAT WAS ALREADY BROKEN* NO RESPONSE TO OTHER PROBLEMS.

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• Beverley - Verified booking

  We had a lovely week here visiting the many places of interest in mid Wales and have been inspired to visit the area again.

  Our favorite was the Red Kite Centre, what an amazing experience! Waking up to the birdsong was delightful and watching the house martins by day and bats by night! Whilst the property and location were absolutely lovely and the welcome items were really thoughtful, I have a few of issues to point out please. Kitchen utensils. Can opener is faulty, you need a new one and the wooden spoon has seen better days. I do a lot of home cooking so I bought a silicone spoon, spatula and tongs which I have left behind for others to use. A few smaller food prep bowls would be handy too please. Cleaning materials, only washing up liquid, hob cleaner and 2 dishwasher tablets were provided. I have had many holiday lets and Airbnb's over the years and it is customary for hosts to provide extra kitchen hand/tea towels, antibacterial, degreaser sprays, enough dishwasher tablets for the week & extra cloths, for cleaning around to maintain a satisfactory hygienic environment. These were extra items that I had to buy so I've brought them home. I always leave the kitchen immaculate and vacuum all around before leaving. No basic long lasting groceries supplied, e.g. salt & pepper, cooking oil, again I bought these and took them home. Washing machine, urgh! when I opened the machine to do a laundry load, the rubber seal and drum edge were really thick with black mold which took an age to clean off and then had to do an empty wash with antibacterial liquid to make it useable. The machine would benefit a deep clean and a note to remind folks to leave the door open to dry out. No mop and bucket to clean the kitchen floor. Flies, I'm well aware that these are to be expected living next to livestock but there was no sign of an electric fly guard nor any supply sticky fly papers as mentioned in the house. Again, I bought box of fly papers myself and left the rest for others to use.

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• Jacob - Verified booking

  We really enjoyed our stay here, the accommodation was clean and modern and I was able to plug my car into the 3 pin socket in order to charge it.

  The property was nice and isolated so it was nice to play music and drink late at night without worrying about noise. Full facilities were available in the property including wifi and there is a smart tv in the living area where there is also a log burner and wood available. The hot tub was lovely and warm for the duration of our stay, I think it was 13 amp so unsure how it would be in the winter. The only issue we had with it was the amount of flies outside which seemed to want to jump in but there is obviously nothing the owner can do about this, the property is after all surrounded by farming, maybe just a skimmer to get them out would be good as the filter wasn't able to keep on top. Inside the property flies weren't an issue as suggested on other posts and there is a fly zapper in the kitchen anyway. Unfortunately you cant get takeaway here but its only a 20 minute drive into town so you can get food here and there is also a Tesco and Morrisons. The drive is nice to get there too. There are lots of pans, cutlery, plates ect in the kitchen. I would just suggest bringing plastic cups to drink around the hot tub.

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• Simon - Verified booking

  Overall the cottage was extremely well kept and the facilities were well presented, location is simply idyllic.

  Overall a very high 9/10. Areas of improvement/Suggestions to Sykes and property owner: There was a slight oversight in the loo roll department with only 2 rolls in the entire property with 5 guests staying for 5 days and 4 nights. By day 3 we could see that we were going to run out and had to find somewhere local to purchase additional loo roll because there were none extra in the property. Ideally the property should keep extra loo roll on the property or at least mention in the information pack (emailed to guests) to bring extra loo roll like they did on the rubbish bags (there was a clear message saying the property owner does not know how much rubbish you will throw away, so please bring additional bags which we did). Due to this being a new and isolated location we had planned to not need to leave until the day we were due to depart. Anyways, this is something that can easily be fixed for future guests. Finally none of the Televisions up stairs worked. This was not a big deal but again I feel it's worth informing guest before arrival to manage expectations.

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• Laura - Verified booking

  A really wonderful place to escape for a relaxing weekend!

  Everything has been done to a lovely standard, it feels new and fresh. Just 25mins from Newtown or Llandrindod Wells for supermarkets etc. The only small details stopping this place being 5 star are - The listing states there is a BBQ, this is a small rusted grill on top of the fire pit. I wouldn’t want to cook on it. - The listing states all towels are included however there was no hand towel in the downstairs bathroom, no bathmat in the upstairs bathroom and separate towels for the hot tub would be great! - I feel some more comfortable outdoor seating is needed such as loungers or rattan couch seating. With the gorgeous weather, it’s uncomfortable sitting at a dining chair for long periods. Still a wonderful place and I would return and recommend!

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