The Old Cornhill

Good location with nice views over the harbour.

Good size flat with everything we needed.

We've visited this property a number of times, and always gave positive reviews.

However the last visit prompts me to make the following observations: General maintenance: There are still 2 lights out in the bathroom. The passageway leading up to the front door is littered with dead leaves. If there had been a broom, I would have swept them away myself, because in the wet they are treacherous, and we walk them into the property. The courtyard is a great place to park my car, but there has been an old bed propped up against the far wall for many weeks. Not a good look. At night, with the exception of the security light right outside the door to the property, and a wall light close to the courtyard gate, the courtyard is in almost total darkness. Another security light and a wall light have been non-functional since we first started visiting the property. This worries my wife. Despite the above, we really do like the property, but a bit of due care and attention is in order, I feel.

We love the place.

There's a few niggles, which I reported last time, still not addressed; 2 lights out in the bathroom, and several lights out in the courtyard. The courtyard is very dark at night, and a bit scary for my wife. If there was a yard brush, we could brush away the wet, dead leaves from around the door instead of walking them into the apartment. Other than that, we had a great time!

Although we've stayed at the Old Cornhill a number of times, we only noticed on our last visit that the roller blinds in the living room - particularly the one over the sink - are translucent, and it is overlooked by the apartments across the courtyard.

I suggest a more "robust" blind be put there, or even some curtains. Apart from that, there are 2 light bulbs out in the bathroom, and the security light and a wall light in the courtyard are not working.

A really nice place to stay.

Lovely views too.

My only concern was the level of the bed It was too low for me and I struggle to get up from the very low bed Overall we both enjoyed our stay even thou the gate lock broke and got replaced Dave Bradley

Although listed as a cottage, it turned out to be a first floor flat/apartment, which was very nice.

Having our dog with us meant that we had to escort him downstairs every time he wanted to go out. The courtyard was big enough for 2 cars. 3 would have blocked others in. Parking could be a huge issue. We parked our car in the courtyard for most of the holiday, fearing that our place would be taken by other guests if we moved. Parking space is definitely at a premium. The keybox for our flat was not as listed. It is the silver-fronted one to the left of the front door. All in all, it was a very pleasant stay.

A basic accommodation but has all the requirements required for a great stay, really impressed with the shower easily controlled heat and very powerful.

Beautiful accommodation, perfect spot for coastal walks and town.

Well equipped , every need covered if required. Clean and homely. Missing the view of the harbour already

The flat could do with more cutlery and crockery.

Whilst on holiday you do not like to have to wash the dishes by hand and having to put the dishwasher on after every meal must be expensive. The flat is noisy, from neighbours below above and to the side. Some of the speech and barking of the dog could be heard very clearly from below (as if in the same room at times in some locations).

Everything was as expected and a great place to base ourselves for our North Wales trip.

Couple of minor things prevented 5 stars - mainly the bed was a bit low down for our old bodies and not that comfy but I guess you cant please everyone with choice of mattress. The only other thing was the lock on the gates - it was a bike lock which was a bit of a pain having to remember the combination and fiddle about with when wanting to get in. Other than that would recommend as a great place to stay.

The instructions given by Sykes to gain entry to the apartment are confusing.

The address given for The Old Cornhill is No 6 (which is actually the number for the whole building. However, the Old Cornhill door has a Number 2 on it. But there are also two doors with Number 2 on them - OC and Cornhill Courtyard, which are sometimes let together as a single unit. You need to use the door at the back of the building, along the dank, rubbish strewn short alley way. There is however. a much easier way of locating the correct door. You are told to enter the courtyard and the OC entrance is round the back. Once in the courtyard, there are very clear nameplates next to each door, that identify The Old Cornhill and Cornhill Courtyard - that's what the location instructions should say. There are two key boxes – use the one on the left of the front door. And the 5 digit code you are given is incorrect as the key box has only 4 digits. You need to omit the 0 at the end of the number you are given. It seems to us that the apartment was renovated for holiday lets about 15 years ago and has been left to fall into decline ever since. The two sofas are saggy, shabby and uncomfortable and the cushion covers are stained. The mattress falls away at its edges as the edge springs have failed. There is a lot of black mould on the grout in the shower. The bathroom sink plug hole does not fit and your bowl of water will seep away whilst you are using it. The kitchen sink tap drips when on full cold. The front door is not very secure and better locks would be advisable. The windows are draughty and the wind whistles through them. The electrical items display stickers that state the last electrical test was in November 2022. There is an iron with a ‘failed – do not use’ sticker on it. There is an airer that has a broken catch so you have to lean it up against something otherwise it falls over. The oven door doesn’t close properly. The detergent drawer of the washing machine was full of black mould. The freezer is heavily frosted up and, as a result, we could only open one of the three drawers. The cooker hood filters smell strongly of grease. The kitchen is fairly well equipped but there are only 2 teaspoons and 2 mugs and a pair of tongs would be useful. One of the wine glasses was cracked. Many of the glasses have dishwasher burn. We could hear every footstep made by the users of the apartment above us and, from our bathroom, we could hear nearly every word said by the users of the apartment alongside. The listing says there is a patio or outdoor seating area. This takes the form of a few pieces of broken and dirty garden furniture against the wall in the courtyard where residents park and the bins are stored. The bins were overflowing and there was rubbish on the ground in the courtyard. One bin, in particular, was overflowing when we arrived and was only emptied a fortnight later just as we were leaving. The gateway to the courtyard is very narrow and the courtyard has room for 2 cars if they are parked well. The spaces outside the building, on the road, were always taken and so we parked in one of the 20 or so free-to-park spaces outside the Tafarn Pencei pub 50 yards along the road. We managed to get a space there every time we needed one. The listing states the apartment has a TV. Being 15 years old, it is not a smart TV and only offers the freeview channels, rather than what current day expectations of a TV would be. The remote control for the TV does not work (we changed the batteries and it still did not work) so you have to use the channel and sound buttons on the back of the TV to turn on, change channel and sound. The USB port on the side of the TV does not work. There is a blu-ray player but it and the TV do not ‘talk to one another’ and so the blu-ray player is useless. We reported this to Sykes Cottages AKA Menai Holidays by phone on our second day (when they called us to reset the router as the lady downstairs had a problem with wi-fi) and did not receive a response for 5 days. They sent round a ‘technician’ in our absence to fix another problem with downstairs' access, as well as ours, but our problems were not even looked at, let alone fixed. The downstairs issue was "fixed" by the expedient of taping a card to one of the plug switches saying "do not turn off" - which card could only be read if it was lifted up - it was not placed so you could easily read the instruction. We reported this to Sykes/Menai via the portal as it was a weekend and the phone lines were closed, but never heard from them again. It seems they were only interested in appeasing the complaints from the tenant in Cornhill Courtyard, rather than the problems we were experiencing. They even closed our call before we got back from our day out and could receive my feedback as to whether the issue had been resolved or not. As it was a Saturday, phoning hte office resulted in a "we are closed" message, hence notifying them via the official channel of the Portal.

Great Value of Money.

Lots of good things to say about this cosy apartment: Super views, private parking, great kitchen/cooking facilities, and excellent shower. However, we did have a few issues: Finding the apartment and obtaining the key - it would help if the door had no. 6 on it , not no. 2. The key box did not have the black cover on and was difficult to open. We rang and spoke to the owner who was very helpful, though unfortunately we had further issues leaving the property. The TV often had no signal and turned itself on during the night..... The fabric covered settee and the cushions need replacing. Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and found it great value for money.

Position of flat was good, kitchen great, shower brilliant but the furniture needs updating.

Bed is far to low and sofas uncomfortable.

When we arrived we were given a code however it was very confusing as we didn’t realise their was two key boxes after driving 9 hours from Scotland there was little support we eventually realised there was another key box but it was covered and not easily accessible this was the only bad part of the holiday the flat and location was perfect and another couple downstairs helped with the access to the property, just clear communication would of solved this

We like this property, this was our 4th visit.

It has always been clean and comfortable. It's great asset is the location. The view across the harbour and narrow gauge railway station to the hills, is super. It is close to the town but somehow separate from it. Porthmadoc is a good place to stay or use as a base if you want to explore further. Access to private parking, not guaranteed but usually available in our experience, is a bonus

Disappointed that when we arrived the property had not been cleaned and no clean bedding or towels.

However, even though it was Good Friday Bank Holiday we managed to get through to the office to alert. The cleaners were round within the hour to put right the admin misunderstanding. For me, this is a sign of good customer service. Reacting quickly to sort out the problem. Well done Criccieth Cleaning. The apartment is really well located with easy access to the town and parking in the secure space next door. Great property for exploring Snowdonia and the Llyn Peninsula.

A very nice and well appointed property with stunning views of the harbour.

We found it to be very clean and well equipped. No complaints about anything apart from just 2 items. 1) the "low level" bed is VERY low, and difficult for oldies to get out of. 2) the brown sofa/bed has had its day and needs replacing. It is old and stained. It looks like it converts to a bed, but the problem is that it starts to do this while you are sitting on it, so the base tilts and the extension starts to come out, making it so uncomfortable that you have to get off it. We had to move it away from the wall because we were worried we might trip over the bit sticking out on our way past it during the night. I have photos if you wish to see evidence. Other than that everything else was fine. The kitchen is well equipped, the bathroom is modern and well appointed, the shower was really good. We would definitely stay there again, although we would prefer a slightly higher bed if possible.

I can honestly say that I couldn't find a thing to mark The Old Cornhill down on, spacious comfortable full of character wonderful modern kitchen well equipped it has wonderful views of the bay and the mountains beyond, we had no worries about parking as the cornhill with its secure gated parking to the side of the building, it was so quiet at nights though we did visit in the off-season.

At the end of the day we had a lovely weekend at The Old Cornhill and would stay again if we were in the area.

As advertised!

Really enjoyable location, and facilities. Direct contact with owner over a few minor issues at the end of our stay.

The cottage is in a fantastic location within walking distance of the shops and restaurant.

The views over the harbour are beautiful. The kitchen is well equipped and living room very comfy. The cottage is situated through the locked courtyard ,the back of the building on the right . The is a steep staircase inside the property but manageable. Everything was perfect.

Splendid location with a view across the harbour to the narrow gauge railway station.

Shops & restaurants in the town all easily walkable and a good base for wider exploring. We've stayed here a few times before and hope to stay again.

We had a lovely week at the Old Cornhill.

The entrance round the back of the building is not very inviting, but once we were inside and up the stairs, it was a different world. There was plenty of space in the living area and the views out to the harbour and hills beyond were wonderful. We found the bed to be comfortable and the bathroom had all we needed, including a great shower. Claire was very responsive to a couple of issues we had. Parking was a challenge when we arrived, but a space was available when we returned from eating at The Creel fish and chip shop, and we moved our car into the courtyard. From then on, we were always able to park in the courtyard. On two days, we left the car there. We travelled on the Welsh Highland Railway to Caernarfon and back. We also walked to Portmeirion, spent the day there, and walked back. Wonderful holiday in a great apartment.

The flat is well situated with a lovely view over the harbour, and walking distance to all amenities.

It was spotlessly clean, warm and comfortable. I parked in the courtyard which is tight but doable. The flat was let down by the amount of rubbish that had accumulated in the doorway. Not a good first impression which two minutes with a broom would have sorted. However it was the only gripe in an otherwise very pleasant stay.

Lovely well-maintained property in a perfect spot for us.

Very comfortable and well-furnished with everything we needed for an enjoyable stay. Good shower, comfy bed and nice and warm. Our only suggestion would be that, with a dishwasher and washing machine, it would have been useful to have left a couple of tablets to use in the machines, or to recommend guests bring some of their own. Thank you

'Courtyard' for sitting outside, dirty and occupied by 2 very large wheelie bins.

View not especially attractive as one window looks onto side of building and very difficult to get air flow in hot weather. Due to lack of adequate crockery, hand washing up necessary - despite having a dishwasher! Very steep and narrow stairs to apartment from ground floor - makes for difficulty in transporting heavy suitcases.

Location is first class lay out of apartment is great, even in covid times everything in apartment that you would expect.

Major downside is the bed, it's practically on the floor , comfortable when you got in but a.nightmare for a near pensioner to get out. If the bed was replaced would definitely stay again.

It was in a great location with stunning views, the furniture was a little dated in the living area I booked the holiday last year so paid half of what there charging now so I felt we got great value for money if how ever I was going to pay£869 which I would not I would expect the furniture to be more updated.

I think it would be advisable to tell guests to take more towels it wasn't a problem for us as I always take them, cos 2 bath towels and 2 hand towels isn't enough for a week and I don't want to be using the washing machine for a couple of things would definitely stay again if the prices go back to what they were.

This was our second time at The Old Cornhill apartment so that in itself is a recommendation.

It is a warm and comfortable holiday retreat with the most amazing views from the front window of the harbour and the mountains beyond. It is within easy walking distance of the centre of town whilst being in a very quiet area for night time. There are some stunning coastal and ancient oak woodland walks from the door or if feeling more adventurous short drives to some good mountains. The apartment was very clean with everything you need for an enjoyable stay included. The bed is very comfortable - it is low down as some people have commented on but that was not a problem for us, we took our own pillows as we prefer down pillows. The private car parking was a bonus as the harbour area can get very busy with cars. The shower was very good - great pressure. The kitchen is well equipped - we took our own sharp knives for food prep and tin foil to line the grill pan. The Ffestiniog and Welsh Mountain Railway is across the harbour and is a great place to spend some time watching the steam train being re-fuelled before setting off again. All in all, I would recommend this accommodation to anyone who loves a good view and has mobility - there is a set of stairs to climb with your belongings to get to the apartment as it is on the second floor but once in and unpacked, the effort is worth it. Climb the harbour steps near the apartment for outstanding views over the whole area - you can just see Snowdon.

A superb apartment, in a great location.

Only criticism, as things have changed during COVID-19, it would be better to have more plates, mugs, cutlery available than 4 place settings. To be able to use the dishwasher economically, it would be better to be able to use it with more than the minimal amounts of tableware that were available. Secondly, also linked to COVID-19, could it be made clear that the minimal kitchen disposables eg dishwasher tablets, kitchen roll, toilet rolls, cooking foil, that are often standard were not available.

We have now stayed in the Old Cornhill three times, and will not hesitate to stay there again.

The location is superb, being both central and quiet.

Top place to stay would definitely go there again.

Lovely flat, lovely location overlooking the harbour.

Nothing needed in the flat, as the attention to detail was excellent. We had a really nice holiday. Highly recommended.

The arrival instructions were clear.

Parking was easy, we parked outside or in the nearby free car park. Another flat had their car in the shared court yard, but there was space for another. The entrance is at the back of the building, it isn't pleasant; damp, dark and mossy. The flat itself was incredibly clean, tidy and well thought out. We had a lovely view over the harbour from the lounge. The kitchen was well equipped, they had provided basic cleaning materials, but the fridge doesn't seal closed properly and the freezer is over icing. The shower was reliable. The bed; had lovely fresh linen, was firm and comfy but quite low. Our main concern was that the building is an echo chamber and all floors are creaky. We could hear all the neighbouring flats clattering, chatting and tv's, so I'm sure they could hear us! It made us concious walking about and watching tv.

We were very happy at the Cornhill, we stayed on flat 2 on first floor.

Two small observations which would be worth noting. 1) the king size bed was extremely comfortable and we both slept well, the drawback was it was very low to the ground, felt a bit like sleeping on the floor. when getting up in the morning, (being fit 70's) proved a bit difficult. 2) There was not a nice clock on the wall anywhere. Otherwise, everything is there that you need.

Enjoyed our stay.

Central location. Apartment very well equipped and spacious enough for 2 people. Comfortable nights sleep and easy shower to use. We weren’t able to park in the courtyard for the first few days and when this happens you are reliant on a space directly opposite the flat. However, if not available either, then you are forced to park further away. Basic free view tv, so I would recommend taking a few dvds-especially for those wet and windy days/nights. The two settees also have low backs so they are not as comfortable as they look. Wouldn’t stop us from returning to number 2 though. Thank you!

We had a great time

Lovely Apartment with a good view of harbour and mountains.

Plenty of storage space all round. Shower was hot and powerful with shelves. Lol not always in showers. Overall Apartment was well situated, very comfortable and spacious. Thank you.

We'd like to leave a detailed review as there is only one on your site for this property and we usually rely on reviews when booking holiday accommodation.

The apartment was very comfortable and had everything you could need. The kitchen is well equipped and the pans and knives are of a good quality for holiday cooking. There is an iron and ironing board plus a clothes airer so doing any washing is easy. The bed was very comfortable and there is plenty of storage. The shower is good with plenty of hot water but there was variable pressure at times - but nothing to put you off staying here. The views from the window are wonderful. You can see the harbour and the steam trains in the distance. The area gets busy on sunny days but is quiet in the nights. It is just a very short walk into town and to the train station and the beaches at Borth-Y-Gest and so is an ideal location. There is parking available in the courtyard and there is a small table with chairs for sitting out but this area is shaded so we preferred to sit on the benches across the road. The place was very clean when we arrived and was supplied with handwash etc to help keep Covid safe. We could sometimes hear the people in the apartment above us moving about a little but this was certainly not an issue. We really enjoyed our stay and would recommend this apartment.

A superb base for exploring the area, particularly on foot - we clocked up over 50 miles during the week!

Porthmadog itself is very well served for facilities and has lovely beaches close by too. We found the flat extremely comfortable and quiet with excellent elevated views over the harbour - well recommended.

Received an email like "the owner changed, but don't worry, just send the money again" two days before the stay, which was not very encouraging.

My email to Sykes inquiring whether the key code was still valid remained unanswered. With no local address to contact, this was an unpleasant situation. At the end, the key was there and everything was fine. The place itself is quite nice, esp. for the view and the easy parking. The owner might want to check the fridge door though - it does close, but only so-so. Shelves near the bed could use some dusting. WLAN internet works only for one device (e.g. one laptop) at a time.