Dog Friendly Cottages In Blaenau Ffestiniog

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Christopher - Verified booking

  We booked a week over Christmas with our dog.

  Could only stay 3 days. Really nice area, in the mountains, secluded but close to everything you'll need for your stay. That's the good. Now for the bad. There really is no parking, so prepare for a pretty long walk from car to house. The actual location of the house is really really bad, and yes you have to cross a railway to enter the property. Luckily it wasn't running in the winter. Then theres the mud, puddles and rubbish that greeted us as we first arrived at the property. Generally the garden and outside areas have been left to rot and not been maintained. Also our springer spaniel did escape the garden, and the key safe is held together with tape. The inside on arrival was so cold no coats were removed for a very long time. Every room had its own electric radiator and all of them were turned on immediately. There is also a wood burner in the living room. But this is the biggest problem with the property. It's impossible to warm up the downstairs. Upstairs was lovely and toasty, but every room downstairs was constantly ice cold. We did receive a wood starter kit that burnt for maybe a hour before needing to buy more. Even with the log burner going it never warmed up to a comfortable level. The kitchen was dirty and didnt have anything to make food. Everything needs to be washed before use theres no enclosed drawers or cupboards so everything just sots in the open to collect dust and insects. Also there isnt really anything more than a few cups, cutlery and a few saucepans. So make sure you pack a few things. Barthroom was really nice, warmest room in the house and everything worked as it should. Although incredibly dangerous as the stairs go half way through the bathroom door. The bed also needs repairing or replacing. Theres a dip in the middle thats so large its noticeable with the naked eye. Its like sleeping in a hamuk. There is no wifi or tv which is stated and missed by ourselves at the time of booking. We did find a few games hidden away in a cupboard. Higly recommend burning them as they are mouldy and stink. Overall the property has so much potential but lacks the care and attention it deserves. If the owners tried to make it a home instead of an abandoned house i would highly recommend. I am writing this in the hope of positive changes not as a complaint.

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• Iljoesja - Verified booking

  Negatives: 1.

  No Fire Starter Pack ( not behind a door, not in the wicker basket not anywhere 2: No 1 Black Rubbish Bag To Be Seen Anywhere 3. Microwave Inside dirty big spats from tomatoes sauce and other sorts! 4. Not Clean, Kitchen Cutlery Tray Dirty You have to wash everything before use. Floors dirty. Under Wooden Bed Full Of Dust And Dog Hairs. It’s lovely to allow dogs but there needs to be vacuumed after stays. Also There Was (Probably Still Is, As I Read Another Review Mentioning This) A Dirty Tissue Next To The Bed, Under The (Also Dirty) Bedside Table. From A Previous Stay 5. Shower is really tricky We couldn’t get it nice and warm, and the minute you try to move the button to try to get it warmer it goes ice cold instead. 6. Front Of The Cottage Is Very Muddy It’s Very Tricky To Try To Get Passed It. It Could Do With A Proper Path (Slate In Abundance :). An A Pretty Gate Or Give It A Paint Positive Points: 1. Gorgeous Old Cottage, It Has So Much Potentia, The Cottage Oozes Character. I especially Loved The Upstairs Super Cosy, No Problem Falling Asleep After A Long Sight Seeing Day and Sitting By The Fire (Once We Got The Wood :)) With A Nice Glass Of Red 2. The Owner Is Busy Making A Patio Next To The Cottage, Which Will Be Lovely In Summertime To Sit And Sip A Glass Of Wine :) 3. The Steam Train Railway Right In Front. It Was Delightful To See The Steam Train Going Passed a Few Times And Waving To Each Other :) 4. The Location Is Ideal! Close To The ZipLine Slate Mine Where We Had Booked, And Many Other Sight Seeing Places, Lots To Do And See. Once The Negatives Are Sufficiently Addressed (Change Cleaner!:) It Would Be Perfect

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• David - Verified booking

  One of the most dog friendly cottages you will ever stay in, this is a sympathetic restoration of an important historic mill on the edge of the Tan y Bwlch estate.

  The terraced gardens are secluded, well maintained, lovely and typical of the area with camellias starting to bloom in January, backing onto fields and woods. There is ample off road parking to the front of the cottage and we found it easy to get in and out although this road is the busy main road into Porthmadog. We weren't disturbed in the least by traffic noise, the stone walls of the cottage are very thick! We found the cottage warm and cosy with the log burner in action- wood was provided, and it lasted us all week. The night storage heaters kicked in effectively during the night so that the cottage was warm in the mornings. The bathroom is clearly newly refurbished and well equipped with a rain shower as well as a bath. The kitchen has everything you could want to make full meals including a microwave and a Nespresso machine with pods included. In fact, we have rarely experienced such generosity from a host who left us wine, condiments in the cupboard, Yorkshire teabags and treats for the dog. A soft dog bed next to the fire made our greyhound very happy. We were very comfortable in the large bedroom with its double iron bedstead and extensive wardrobes, and our daughter was similarly happy with her single bed in the smaller bedroom. Mill Cottage is a short walk away from the Oakeley Arms where the food is good and the bar is dog friendly, you can get straight into walks through deep woodland on the estate and catch a ride behind a steam engine on the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway from Tan y Bwlch station up in the woods. Mill Cottage is clearly the owner's pride and joy and we would love to stay there again.

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• Taymour - Verified booking

  The listing was inaccurate and said the property had facilities such as a dishwasher and heating which weren’t included.

  Enough wood was provided to get us started when we arrived at the cold property, but that was 4x pieces of damp wood, so obviously not satisfactory. The house has heating, but you have to text the owner when you want it to be switched on and she took ages to respond, then only offered up to one hour of heating to be switched on at a time to “save on the gas”. The cleaner hadn’t refilled the soap dispenser or left any cleaning products for the kitchen. We were told twice that the cleaner would restock these things, but it didn’t happen. We bought our own cleaning products and found that the kitchen sides were filthy and far from hygienic. The coat stand is a health and safety risk as it falls over when anything is hung up. It almost impaled my dog and narrowly missed hitting my partner in the head. While all of the above was poor, the thing that was most dissatisfactory was the response of the owner when we raised the issues with her. Even after telling her that I had been omitted to hospital with a respiratory condition from staying in the property and not having access to heating, she showed a complete lack of empathy and reiterated that the reason for the lack of heating was because it was expensive to pay for the gas to heat the property. We certainly wouldn’t recommend this property and wish we had stayed away. There are lots to choose from in the area, many of which are cheaper than this one, which I think would be much better and run by a reasonable owner.

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• Taymour - Verified booking

  Disappointing stay.

  The property was unexpectedly cold when we arrived. We were provided with a few pieces of damp wood to get started with the log burner, but it wasn’t enough to even get us through the first night. The house has heating, but the thermostat is kept in a locked box and you have to text the owner when you want it to be switched on. I felt uncomfortable having to ask someone on Whatsapp for the house to be warmed up. For the price I paid I just wanted to stay in a cottage where I could disconnect from being online and using technology for a week, so did not appreciate needing to use WhatsApp to ask to warm up the cold house. The cleaning products and hand soap were empty, which I was told would be addressed with the cleaner but I didn’t hear anything further. We bought our own cleaning products and found that the kitchen sides were dirty. The coat stand fell over when anything was hung up. It almost hit my dog and also narrowly missed hitting my partner in the head on both occasions that we hung something up on it. When communicating with the owner about my concerns above, she just referred to the positive reviews that had been left before and I would have appreciated if more was done to acknowledge my concerns and to rectify the points I had raised. 

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