My husband and I stayed here with our 4 month old son mid-September 2020 for my birthday for 3 nights.
The hotel is very pretty (mix of old and new buildings) and has plenty of facilities. Indoor and outdoor seating areas and a restaurant.
We were made to book a family room with an additional bed through booking.com, eventhough this wasn't strictly necessary since our son sleeps in his portable bedside cot.
Our room was very nicely designed and very clean. The bed was comfortable enough, if on the firm side and with a spring mattress. It had a nice headboard that allowed me to prop myself up fairly comfortably for night feeds. The cushions were a little too firm for my personal taste. Otherwise the room had most of the modcons that one expects at this price point, including an iron and a fan.
It was a good thing a fan had been provided, as the room itself was very hot and had no air conditioning, leading to a restless night on my birthday. The window could be cracked open, but was on a restrictor. The radiator in the bedroom itself was switched off. However the radiator in the bathroom was on full-blast and turned the room into a sauna. We attempted to turn off the radiator but the valves were too hot to touch. I enquired about switching off the heating in our room. Obviously too subtely since I was dismissed by reception, with a curt statement that guests can switch off the radiators by themselves. My husband requested help the next day. This time our request was met. However initially only one of the two valves was switched off. Even once all the radiators were turned off, the room remained uncomfortably warm (to be fair it had been a hot day), so we kept the fan running all night.
The bathroom again was very nicely designed and very modern. But the shower pressure was mediocre at best. Which was odd since the tap was very strong. The second morning (my birthday) the shower was cold, which was sort off tolerable because the room itself was so hot.
We had dinner at Oscar's the first night. The portions were very generous, the food tasty, if a little salty.
We had breakfast at the nearby Hideout the first two mornings and at the hotel the third morning. I had actually requested to include breakfast for one morning during the booking process, got an email confirmation but found out during check-in that breakfast hadn't been included after all. Breakfast is pretty expensive at this hotel. It's buffet style with plenty of choice. The food itself is tasty. But the coffee and tea is really unpleasant.
The staff were overall very kind and helpful, especially so in the restaurant.
COVID MEASURES: We visited the hotel during the pandemic and generally felt safe.
Masks weren't mandarory for guests in the interior communal areas, perhaps because the hotel is located in Wales. We did wear ours anyway.
The receptionist was behind a plastic window and wore a face cover.
When we first entered the room the door had a sticker across it's opening, stating the room was covid safe. I am not entirely sure how necessary this is.
The rooms were cleaned everyday. This is unusual since most hotels opt to clean the rooms only before and after your stay. It might be a good idea to give guests the choice. But the cleaner did wear a mask and gloves.
During breakfast a staff member plates up the food for you from the buffet. The poor lad was run off his feet, since he initially was the only member of staff taking care of guests. We therefore had to wait a while for our food, but within an acceptable range of time given the situation. Guests weren't served in order of arrival. And some guests took it upon themselves to go up to the buffet for seconds. Laughing and talking out loud, near the food, rendering the system pretty useless. In fact it would be better if the food was not kept out in the open in an internal room filled with guests that aren't wearing masks. Or at least behind a sheet of glass / plastic. We also noticed that the same member of staff was in charge of serving and cleaning up the used cutlery and plates. Not particularly hiegenic in the current climate. Management should consider employing more staff in the morning. less