Dog Friendly Apartments in Porthmadog

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Trevor - Verified booking

  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.

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• Julie - Verified booking

  The apartment is in a picturesque location and even on a rainy day the view from the lounge is lovely, looking over the harbour to the Ffestiniog railway (well worth a visit).

  It is cosy, comfortable (apart from the bedding) and the overall layout is good and well thought out, incorporating some original features. Just 2 of us stayed from the original 4 that had booked and we used the larger bedroom. The wet room which serves this front facing bedroom is quirky and stylish however, the rear bedroom is very compact with just enough room to shuffle around the bed avoiding the wall mounted television. The dressing room area attached to the rear bedroom really is just a lean to with a corrugated plastic roof and gives the impression of a cheap solution. The grass turtles on the wall are damp and mouldy – this seems to be an ongoing problem with this particular room. When we first walked into the apartment, there was a strong unpleasant odour; something like a mixture of fried food and curry which seemed to permeate every room. We managed to get rid of this by day 2 by opening the back door, ventilating well and buying a strong air freshener (the automatic one provided in the apartment was empty). Other reviewers have mentioned damp/fusty smells but to be honest, I could not detect this. I think the problem may be that the apartment is so well insulated (as stated in the guest information book) with inadequate ventilation. The chimney is sealed and the cooker hood is not actually vented out and has no filter. When you turn the cooker extractor on past the first setting, the upright cover blows off under the pressure of the fan, so any strong cooking smells have nowhere to go. To bring this accommodation up to the ‘stunning description’ it boasts, whoever undertakes the maintenance really needs to up their game. The freezer compartment door lock was broken so water constantly drips into the fridge and we couldn’t keep food frozen, only one light worked in the wet room, one was out in the cooker hood, and of the recessed ceiling lights – one in the dining area either constantly flickered or was out and it seems that when these lights are changed they don’t bother replacing them with the same type. Instead, cool white were replaced with warm white so you have a mix of white and yellow lighting which just smacks of laziness and lack of attention to detail. We found the bed itself comfortable but one thing they absolutely must do is to replace the cheap and nasty bedding with a good quality range that better reflects the price charged and the website description. The bedding provided was scratchy, the duvet cover was either faded or scorched – overall rubbish. We did not have any complaints about the general cleanliness of the apartment – overall was pretty good. Parking is provided outside but judging from the car dealership sticker, it looked like some thoughtful local had dumped their car in the middle of the 2 bay parking – it remained where it was all throughout our stay. The courtyard parking is only suitable for a midsized car but we were able to park in the area outside the café bar close by with no problem, although this might not be possible during busy times. The apartment is close to local shops and supermarkets with access to some truly stunning scenery – even when the weather is overcast. If you take a right out of the front door, you eventually end up at Borty Y Gest, a lovely walk along the coastline to an unspoilt seaside village. The apartment is in a very picturesque part of Porthmadog – just needs a bit of attention to bring it up to a stunning standard.

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• Teresa - Verified booking

  We all had a lovely stay at Bay View Apartment.

  The location of the Apartment could not have been improved on, as is as close to the sea as it can be and has the most enchanting view over the Bay. The large windows of the open plan living space frame the magnificent sea within the bay and the majestic mountains beyond it. The extraordinary scenery changes on hourly based and depending on the amount of sunshine changes colours as well. No wonder that Borth-y-Gest is considered Porthmadog’s beauty spot. The Apartment is large, comfortable in every sense. The interior is furnished well and aesthetically pleasing. It offers plenty of space for all, children and adults alike. The kitchen is very well equipped if one wishes to prepare even most elaborate of meals. We loved the bathrooms that were spacious and showers with excellent pressure and lovely hot water. The linen and towels were lovely and had a scent of fresh air. The beds were comfortable ensuring good night rest. Our lovely Hostess Fiona welcomed us on our arrival and guided us to our parking area. She also kindly gifted us with some lovely local cookies, chocolate and bottles of milk for much needed cup of tea after our journey. We had a lovely weather through out of our stay and even the temporary showers were enjoyed indoors looking at the outstanding scenery all around us. The coast in Borth-y-Gest is beautiful and lends itself for walks and number of small beaches are perfect for making sand castles and flying kites. The big Plus of staying in the Apartment is its proximity to the Restaurant that is situated on the ground floor with tasty dishes that are on offer there and Cafe/Bistro next door that offers wide range of meals, lovely coffee and delicious ice cream. Both venues are well known in the area for tasty food and always in demand. Porthmadog 20 min walk away offeres a wide range of shops and supermarkets, few charity shops and couple of antique shops with interesting objects. Our memories of our stay in the Apartment and our visit to Borth-y-Gest will always be full of beauty and comfort. We are very happy to recommend this apartment in this location for all who seek rest from hustle and bustle of busy life and seek to restore harmony to mind&body and spirit.

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• Susan - Verified booking

  Thank you for letting me stay at short notice.

  This is a return visit. Fabulous place, great layout on ground floor so on the flat for shops etc. Kitchen is incredibly well equipped and a small welcome pack of Welsh cakes and milk left for which incredibly grateful. Some sachets of tea and coffee provided and lots of useful cleaning stuff and dish washer tablets. Wanted for nothing. Quick shop in local Tesco and I was good to go. Hob, cooker, dishwasher all simple to use. Wonderful location and fabulous walks with eating out suggestions provided in generous welcome folder (on book shelf). Very comfy beds and fairly clean (under sofa cushions were a bit grim and skirtings need a scrub/lick of paint but I hoovered round: no issue for me. A note for housekeeping; sorry I forgot to leave before I checked out. A bulb is gone in the bathroom, light switch in hall is broken and heating was not on on arrival so incredibly cold (and I’m hot blooded!). It took 6 hours to warm living room area up (February to be fair!). Thankfully, I knew where boiler was from a previous stay. The shower was fab but, I couldn’t work out how to get it hotter than lukewarm! I moved boiler to hottest water setting (temporary and only to get shower hot) but it remained resolutely cool. Didn’t spoil my holiday, prob a simple fix that I can’t work out, however, it woke me up in a morning! Bath panel needs replacing as mentioned in visitor book and it stands out in what is a beautifully furnished home. I’m sure you’ll be doing that in low season as you have stated in the book as part of your continual maintenance programme. Thoroughly recommend and hope to return. Very grateful for a week’s rest on my own to recuperate the soul x

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• Cheryl - Verified booking

  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.

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