“This is an honest account of Bron Castell, Harlech from someone who is a landlord so is used to providing property to people at high standards, and who also uses Sykes Cottages a few times every year, and has the benefit of comparing with similar priced properties - it's not a personal attack, but is meant for feedback & improvement.”
When you first arrive (in 2 normal sized cars), you notice how tiny and cramped the parking is, only one car can leave at a time as the second gets blocked in. The parking area was not maintained, was overgrown and lacked any effort to making parking easier (unlike similar properties nearby who've put loose stone down to make it look nicer), this is not the case at Bron Castell. Consider removing the redundant bit of wall prohibiting better parking perhaps? Once in the house, there was no greeting - ie, no small food/drink stuffs that many other cottages provide as a welcome. There wasn't even a flower, a biscuit, Welsh cake, or even drop of milk for tea. Immediately whilst looking around, it was obvious there was no cupboards for dry food storage, nothing at all, so all our food sat out on the worktops and unit in the dining area. Whilst checking the cupboards, the integrated door to the washing machine fell off, and was a problem all week. It was obvious it was loose over a long period of time. The rooms were good size, but this really is just a 2 bed house, with a loft conversion (which is tiny in height - if you're an adult be prepared to spend your entire time in the loft ducking down), but the rooms looked well made up. I also didn't like that you can't use these loft rooms without paying extra!!! 8 People are who it's aimed at - that is a stretch!! The sitting room furniture, (much like all the furniture) is dated and passed it's best - The sofa's provided little cushioning, you just sink. I would really like to see some investment to bring this cottage back to it's former glory which I imagine was several years ago. Also, the Wifi was awful in the sitting room - kept dropping out all week. The garden was quite overgrown and made access through the rear gate tricky for an OAP - the stairs are extremely steep so beware. The house didn't feel particularly clean and hygienic, a huge cockroach/beetle walked across the table whilst we were having dinner one evening, it was the size of a spoon and freaked us all out! Also, the ensuite shower was quite a let down with a broken shower rail and mould around the base tray. The main bathroom again is dated, but was clean and functional. All in all, for nearly £1000 for a week in June I expected, and hoped for better. It was disappointing as the house looked lovely online, it does have fantastic views, but I feel that the owners either are not interested in improving it, or are waiting to get rid of it without investing in it, either way, if you look harder you'll find much better cottages for this price.
