Big Cottages in Wales

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Alison - Verified booking

  Gellifor is situated up Ffordd y Cwm, a steep and narrow road in St Dogmaels.

  There is plenty of room to turn your car around and park by the property. The views from the property are superb. The key safe is easy to find and open without trying to open the very awkward metal gate. The welcome pack was a basic selection to start you off on your stay, no milk or bread or eggs though. The kitchen is well equipped with plenty of cutlery, pots, pans, crockery etc. Excellent fridge with a small freezer compartment and good oven and hob. However the bread board requires replacing, as it is splitting, and the wooden spoons need renewing.The kitchen and lounge both have the lovely view of the Teifi estuary. The en suite bedroom has a comfortable bed though the pillows need replacing as they are rather unsupportive. One pillow didn’t have a pillow protector on and the mattress protector had an old blood spot on it. The navy blue throw which had been put on the bed had muddy dog pawprints on and dog hairs. Yes I was aware that this is a dog friendly property when I booked but this is still unacceptable. I put the throw in the bath with a note that it required a wash! The main bathroom has an excellent shower. The tv and wifi reception were good. The leather sofas are a little past their best as they are a tad saggy, particularly the two seater. The owners may like to consider either replacing the lounge cushions or just buying some new fillers as the blue ones are flat almost! The outside of the property as you arrive looks untidy with various chairs and a table, and the door step, even though safe to use, was unbrushed. I didn’t venture into the garage where the washing machine and dryer are situated, so cannot comment on these. All the small radiator drying racks need replacing as they are way past their best, paint coming off and a bit rusty. The instructions for recycling at this property are confusing. There is a bin for recycling goods but no information on what the council recycles. No lid on the blue bin so paper and card would get sopping wet. In the end we just brought everything home that our local council recycles and put it in our own bin!The black bin for non recycled waste and the blue bin are at the front of the house and not at the side as the instructions imply. I opened the post box and put the post in the kitchen, it had rained very heavily and the post had got wet. This property must have been wonderful when it was first let, and could be again with just a little tlc, a few things renewed, and a bit of tidying up. Despite the few niggles we still enjoyed our time at the property and in the area regardless.

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• Paul - Verified booking

  These are comments, not criticisms and should be taken in the context of; we enjoyed our stay in the area and the main criteria for us is that we would return to the same property if we revisited the area.

  However, the blurb doesn't mention that next door is a decrepit looking bungalow with rubbish and waste bins strewn everywhere and is inhabited by strange people, not a good impression ! The impression given is that this a quiet, private property, but there is someone elses garden immediately behind the property, the view to the estuary is minimal and traffic from a nearby road is easily heard. Access to the property from the the town is a rat run of parked vehicles and the final 200 yards is very narrow and twisty - care must be taken when driving. Inside; Whilst it didn't bother us unduly, the previously mentioned cobwebs in the lounge really shouldn't be there in a property that's touted as being upmarket and isn't cheap to rent. There is mould in the sealant around the bottom of the shower and this looks pretty disgusting and should be redone. The bath encourages water spillage between it and the wall and is therefore smelling of damp under the bath. The property is expected to be handed back in clean condition, so the tools provided to do that should be maintained in better condition. The brush head in the Dyson was clogged with fibres which I had to remove in order to get it to pick up properly and ther was no crevice attachment for it. The whole property lacks any sound deadening e.g rugs (understandable) but that makes for an echo chamber and partly due to that we had to use subtitles on the TV because the sound was dreadful. The faux leather settees in the lounge are uncomfortable and slippery. The kitchen is poorly laid out and lacks workspace. There are a few other niggles as well, but having said the above, we understand that this is a rental property and will never be kitted out and furnished in the same way we'd like our own house to be. On the plus side, the property was well kitted out. Instructions on how to operate everything seemed to be in place. The heating worked well and it was easy to warm up the property. The bed in the main bedroom was very large and comfortable and the bedlinen and also the bathroom towels etc were of good quality. The big bonus for us was the property having a bath, which was one reason we chose it. We only have a shower at home, so my wife, who has auto immune conditions, found that having a bath was bliss and helped her condition.

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• Rod - Verified booking

  A clean, comfortable property that met our expectations.

  We had an issue with the cooker that was not working when we arrived. We called the cleaner's number and were informed in an answerphone message that 'non-emergencies' would only be covered in office hours. We left a message explaining the situation. We heard nothing back over the weekend. We rang the owners' phone number on Saturday evening and again on Sunday. No one picked up our call and there was no answerphone to leave a message. I rang the cleaner at 10.00am on Monday to repeat the message that the cooker was off and we didn't know where the switch was to put it on. By this stage we had not had a hot meal since Friday evening. We were eventually informed that the cooker switch was on the kitchen wall behind the microwave - it wasn't. By further investigation I found the cooker switch on the opposite wall in the kitchen behind the tall fridge freezer, totally obscured from view. In order to move the fridge freezer away from the wall, I had to first empty all the contents from the fridge and freezer to locate the cooker switch. We were very disappointed that 1) the previous occupant had gone to the trouble of switching off the cooker at the hidden wall point and not communicated this to the cleaner and 2) that neither the cleaner nor the owner were available to talk to us over the weekend. Effectively this completely spoilt the start of our holiday, as there were no local facilities available to provide us with a hot meal. The local fish & chip shop was closed until Tuesday and the village pub has been closed for the last two years. Other that this particular issue over the lack of available communication with the owner and cleaner, the property was very comfortable, clean and met our expectations and we would recommend it to our friends.

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• Neil - Verified booking

  We had a lovely few days in the Cow Shed, using it as a base to explore the area.

  It’s brilliantly quirky, has a MASSIVE reception room for the number of beds, a well equipped kitchen and a largish enclosed garden (note it has a wide metal gate to the garden next door so enclosed but not private). The description isn’t accurate on a few points and needs reviewing & updating with a few more photos - the spiral staircase to the loft is in the bedroom and is steep and narrow, plus the loft is also open to the lounge so be aware of a lack of privacy and noise travelling from the kitchen/lounge to the loft. The garden was bigger & better than expected with great views, but unfortunately the outside bath/shower weren’t working, nor was the hob in the garden kitchen area. Also the foosball table is hidden away in the field and in poor condition. The directions were great making it easy to find, though trying to find the non existent key safe was a little confusing. Communication with the owner was good, there were a few bulbs out and they got these sorted quickly and at our convenience. Summary: A few things stop it being brilliant, rather than just good - we will consider going back as a couple with dog rather than with friends, or if there is a larger group renting some of the other properties at the same time. Thank you for a nice stay.

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• Gillian - Verified booking

  There were positives and negatives.

  Positives: The quietness was wonderful and the space. Negatives: 1.The place was unloved. 2.The furniture was in dis-repair I took loads of photo's to share, but not sure where to post. The cutains were ripped and two chairs and a sofa were all ripped open. 3.All the kitchen equipment had to be cleaned before use .The tin opener was broken and no cork screw. 4.No welcome on a arrival only a man stuck his head out of the car to say enjoy when we arrived. 5.There was no allocated bin for our rubbish and all the other bins were spilling over with beer cans. 6.There were beer cans on the field in front of our sccommadation. 7.The outside bath wasn't working and it had green algae inside the bath.When I turned the water on the pipe had burst and water was everywhere. 8.The outside was totally over grown with weeds and the outside kitchen was filthy dirty you couldn't cook anything. 9.The barbaque had old coals inside and was rusty. We paid £640 for the stay ....such a disappointment we were so looking forward to resting in luxury after working for a year without a holiday .We will not be returning

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