“Whlist it is a dog friendly property, the surrounds are not.”
The drop off to the water is steep and there is no rear 'enclosure' to protect dogs / children from this steep drop. Arrival at 5pm in the winter months is not very fair as it is dark upon arrival which makes it difficult to unpack and usher kids/ dogs into the property especially given the steep and poorly lit steps down to the entrance. (Also further compounding the need for some sort of 'enclosure' to the rear of the property esp when arriving in the dark you would not know how close it ...
The drop off to the water is steep and there is no rear 'enclosure' to protect dogs / children from this steep drop. Arrival at 5pm in the winter months is not very fair as it is dark upon arrival which makes it difficult to unpack and usher kids/ dogs into the property especially given the steep and poorly lit steps down to the entrance. (Also further compounding the need for some sort of 'enclosure' to the rear of the property esp when arriving in the dark you would not know how close it really is) The heating was NEST controlled, which has a pin code lock on it which meant that the heating could not be turned up over 20º. Sadly, as an arthritis sufferer, I need the heating to be higher than this to be comfortable and there was no other means of getting heating into a room (i.e log burner or electric heater) Also, whlist 20º this maybe sufficient for a modern and well insulated property, sadly, a lot of heat is lost through the patio doors so the seating / Tv area was chilly of an evening. Suggest thicker / insulated curtains would help in the winter months? The heating was on a timer, which made the assumption that guests were out of the property for most of the day...which maybe true in the warmer months, but not the winter ones! The property got cold very quickly once the heating went off, which means it had to work harder to get it warm again, by which time, it felt like it switched off again! The bedroom to the front of the property had a weird smell in it (like rotten vegetables!) which made sleeping in this room unpleasant, plus we had to sleep with the door open as to not 'concentrate' the smell. This really needs looking into. The house bathroom is very small, which was OK when there was just 2 adults, but when we were joined by other family members, it did make it a little fraught! Despite there being a futher bathroom on the 3rd floor, this was only any good for the using the toilet as showering was difficult due to the water pressure (which you only get told about once you've booked!) The property was clean upon arrival, but suggest that the cleaners move and vacum under the sofas as my dog was going crazy for the remnants of haribo sweets / crisps which were under there! On a positive note, the property was comfortable, well stocked and thought out. It is in a good location for exploring the area and the beaches on Anglesea
Dear Marie,
Firstly, we would like to apologise for your trip to our home not meeting your expectations. We hold our standards very high for providing a 5-star experience to all our residences, as seen in our previous reviews and wonderful messages left in our guest book. We are dedicated to taking on board where we can improve and shall respond to your comments one by one, to ensure we are being thorough in our actions.
In regards to our surroundings, we are situated on a private estate with maintained communal gardens. Within the grounds there are several sign posted rules to follow, including dogs being kept on leads, to ensure safety in regards to the seawall etc that surround the estate. To guarantee our guests are aware of the grounds we ensure our photos clearly show the view, including the sea wall. Whilst we are freeholders, we are not able to alter the visual appearance of the grounds in any way, this includes fencing or partitioning. This coastline is part of the Welsh Costal Path, promoted by the Welsh government, which provides stunning scenery and walkways, however we will always advice anyone on the coast line to keep a keen eye. The proximity of our home to the coast line is one of the main attributes we and many of our guest love about the property. After hearing your comments, we have ensured to state on our website for guests to be very mindful with children and pets, additionally we are installing a lead ring on our ground floor patio, to attach dog leads.
We completely agree with your comments regarding our check in time, and have already acted to speak with Menai Holidays and changed it to 3pm. Although the communal lighting is out of our control, we have already reported this to the management company that oversee the estate, who are ensuring they are being replaced. When arriving at our property, as soon as you step on our boundary automatic lights turn on to guide you to the front door.
The heating of the property is set at 21 degrees which comes on three times a day, the Nest system will not allow the property to drop lower than 15 degrees at any time. We have had previous guests request the heating to be turned down due to the warmth our double-glazed windows and building regulation standard insulation have retained. Finding that 21 degrees has worked well for many our visitors, however we appreciate everyone has differing circumstances and need a second option. Taking this on board we have invested in a space heater situated in the living room for guests to use at their free will. As you will have been made aware, Menai Holidays are also contactable 24/7 via their local office and emergency numbers should guests have any issues with the heating system.
We employ a high standard cleaning service who have looked after our property for many years and always held the highest standards. Unfortunately, whist currently staying in the property ourselves we have failed to find both an unpleasant odour or a source of any unpleasant odours, in the entirety of the house. Taking on board your feedback we shall be changing our reed diffusers to a new scent to see they are preferable.
We appreciate some may find our downstairs bathroom on the smaller scale, as did we when first purchased the property, resulting in us refurbishing the roof space to make a spacious second bathroom and dressing area. Due to the boiler being a combi boiler, the water pressure will be lessened in the second bathroom when both showers are in use at once, which we ensure to state on our welcome pack. When showers are used one at a time the second bathroom is a perfectly functioning power shower.
To conclude our response to your constructive criticism, we appreciate you highlighting areas which we are more than happy to improve on. Our number one priority is for our guests to have a comfortable, relaxing time in a space we hope feels like a home away from home. However, we must highlight that we are a non-smoking property, as stated on our website and have removed the full ashtray left behind from the balcony. We find that this could have also been a reason why you felt a chill in the living space, as the sliding doors to the balcony when opened will allow a large amount of cool air into the property. Additionally, on arrival to our home we found the top floor roof windows open, which acts as a chimney / vacuum for any heat to be lost. We are sorry to hear that your stay with us could have been improved, and strive to ensure that our future guests do not have the experience you stated.
Yours sincerely,
Seaclusion.
Property Owner