“We booked this house as an extended family to attend a family wedding nearby and, unfortunately, we didn’t have a good stay for the below reasons:
- Although stated that the house is secluded and that the drive down to the house is unmettled, we did not feel the description accurately described just how difficult it is to get to and from this house.”
It is at least 15 minutes off of the main road on tiny, poorly surfaced, steep, unnamed roads. We needed to go in and out to various wedding events and were constantly hampered by things like impassable parts of the roads, meeting lorries with no passing places anywhere near, and sheep being herded down the road and blocking it for significant amounts of time. It took a driver two hours to ferry two car-loads of us to the wedding venue which was only 4.2 miles away, the latter party almost missing the ceremony. One of our party grounded their car (not a low car) on approach to the house and another got a puncture while not driving at a high speed - something mentioned by another reviewer also - which was very inconvenient when stuck in a remote location. The Chirk Castle route given in the instructions is usable but a long way round if wanting to go North or West.
- The cattle grids you have to cross are also perilous-looking - old, bent and bowed.
- There is no sound privacy between the first and ground floor bedrooms at the far left end of the house as the woodburner chimney goes up through a hole in the floor that is just open between the two rooms. The people in these rooms were waking each other up multiple times.
- Not necessarily the owner’s fault but, very strangely, a crow came and knocked repeatedly on the windows each night of our stay at about 4.30am, waking everyone on that side of the house up until someone opened the window to scare it away.
- The water flow in the bathroom above the kitchen is so bad that the shower turns completely off for periods during use and you have to stand there waiting for it to turn back on.
- The house smells damp/musty or even of drains? in places, especially in the bedroom off of the kitchen and the double bedroom opposite the twin room, and it also feels it too. It isn’t nice to be inside the house.
- Leading on from the above - despite the fact it was June, and not too cold outside, the heating was coming on constantly in the house because it was so cold and damp-feeling. The radiator in the bedroom off of the kitchen was noisy and came on and off all through the night, waking the occupants up. It’s better than being cold but most houses wouldn’t have required any heating to be on in the first place.
- As mentioned in numerous other reviews, the cleaning was poor, both in terms of utensils and rooms. There were cobwebs and spiders that had clearly been there for a while throughout the rooms, in easy to reach places, and windows were dirty.
- There was also an issue with moths inside the house.
- It wasn’t possible to securely lock the house as at least one external door (the door from the bedroom off of the kitchen) didn’t lock and was broken, so that was accessible from someone outside at all times.
- The stairs upstairs from the kitchen are slippy and thin and a perfectly able 31-year old in our party who was wearing shoes and walking normally fell down them.
- There is no downstairs toilet which is inconvenient but honestly the least of the issues.
I could go into more tiny details but overall it just feels like no one cares about upkeeping this house nicely. We absolutely would not stay here again. The only good thing about it is the view.
We didn’t inform the owners during our stay, firstly because we were busy with going to and fro, preparing for and attending wedding events, and secondly because there were so many issues that we didn’t feel they could possibly do anything in the timeframe to get the house to a state that we would have considered satisfactory - some issues require a huge overhaul of the house honestly.
As other reviews have said, the owners must know about these issues as they are plain to see and mentioned by multiple guests, so this review acts more as additional information to those contemplating booking.
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We are sorry to hear that the area and your experience were not what you expected.
We encourage guests to contact us during their stay if anything is not as expected, as we are happy to help resolve any issues where possible. We were therefore disappointed to only learn about these concerns through your review, as we would have welcomed the opportunity to address or discuss them during your stay.
As stated in our description the house is a secluded retreat on the Welsh hills. The surrounding roads are rural single-track lanes used by local farm traffic, which is part of the character of the location. We also clearly advise that the final approach road is not tarmac and recommend a 4x4 or higher vehicle. For guests who do not feel comfortable driving down, parking at the top is an option.
We provide photo directions and Google Maps pins from both the A5 and A483 routes, which are the recommended approaches to the property.
The countryside setting means we are fortunate to have wildlife nearby. While we cannot control nature, we do take steps to discourage animals, birds and bugs.
We are sorry you noticed an unusual smell. Had we been made aware during your stay, we would have been happy to investigate.
The heating is set to come on below 19 degrees, and radiators have individual controls.
There is a downstairs toilet, although it is located within the downstairs bedroom, and we will take your comments on board.
We value all feedback and appreciate that the character of the property may not suit everyone. It’s a traditional Welsh countryside home and sheep barn with uneven walls, original features and plenty of character, rather than a modern property with a polished contemporary finish. Many guests love the charm and individuality.
Thank you again for your feedback. We will continue to make improvements where appropriate while preserving the rural adventure and unique character of the property.
Property Owner
