Cringoed House

Need a cheese grater on the kitchen Need to check the washing machine.

I put it on a 30 degrees wash and it came out hot! Couldn’t find a dust pan and brush We loved the huge quirky house and it was perfect for our very big family. Loved the location, down the track , in the countryside

Our booking was for a family group of 17 late July 2025.

Ahead of our arrival, contact (email/text/phone) with the owner and/or Sykes was frustrating as always needed a ‘strong push’ for a reply. We requested a floor plan of the house, this was not provided. Cringoed is one of 3 buildings tightly clustered deep in the countryside. The buildings are approached along a narrow driveable lane albeit with many potholes. The house & immediate area are considered as quiet, rustic and quirky. The facilities, rooms, equipment at Cringoed are set up for 18 guests much as stated on booking websites. Internally it was generally clean on arrival. The two living rooms were light & spacious. Good fridge/freezer, dishwasher & cooking facilities. Some furniture was tired. A random mix of dining room chairs. Crockery & glasses an incoherent mix of shapes, sizes & designs. A number of disappointments/issues during our stay to include: No hot water at one stage for over 24 hours albeit owner did try to resolve the problem promptly. Wifi & mobile reception strong at front of house, weak at the back. A few TV devices needed batteries on arrival. A few wonky toilet seats. Most bedrooms have own washbasin, but towels had to be draped over furniture to dry. We could not find the tea towels which we were told would be provided. No user instructions for likes of tv, cooker, e-car charge point. Externally, hot tub worked OK. Bushes & hedges meant no ball games in garden. Lawn had been cut recently otherwise garden was unkempt. Garden furniture is unloved and was thus not used. Front garden is attractive but over-grown. Sections of the car park flood after rain. Other than local walks, a car is essential for trips away from Cringoed. Generally, the house did what it said on the tin but let down by immediate location & the number of irritants only apparent by staying at the property. Now we know what we know, we are unlikely to re-book, particularly as we paid ‘a lot’ for the week.

Poorly maintained house.

Problems we had ; Main issue heating on continuously ( bedrooms very uncomfortable as it was 22 degrees outside ), plumber did not come out 3 days not fixed till 4 days. No bin bags left , one shower not working ( other floods the floor) , toilet leaking ( onto carpeted floor) these 2 issues never even looked at . Hot tub stopped working ( though this was fixed quickly) . Garden not maintained , grass not cut , outdoor furniture not cleaned etc . Door to hot tub broken, kitchen floor tiles cracked . We left early 3 days due to heating problems . Refused partial refund so will have to go to credit card to request or small claim court . This property I would not recommend . For a fair review the positives are very interesting old property if maintained properly could be lovely. Communication was easy with maintenance guy ( though plumber still not come out 3 days) we were told heating fixed immediately on our complaint (4 days I don’t consider quick.)

We have just returned from a beautiful stay here.

We loved the cottage. Was a little disappointed about the BBQ as the weather was amazing and we would have used this. Loved the hot tub and I am missing that lovely kitchen already. Do not miss the very bumpy road. Lovely and peaceful. Thank you.

Loved our stay, 14 of us 6 Adults and 7 children from 3 yrs to 15 years really enjoyed it, we loved the space and everything we needed was available, we were concerned due to past reviews but we had no need to be, we were met by a friendly guy who helped organise our parking as we had 3 large vehicles, the owners contacted us and left their number to contact if needed, will be looking to book again, what we loved was the 2 living areas, it feels open plan so everyone can be together or its large enough if anyone wants a bit of space, large clean kitchen with big american style fridge / freezer plenty big enough for meals for the week, large dish washer made cleaning after meals easy, 2 x ovens, microwave, large easy clean hob brilliant for cooking for large groups and large dining area with more than enough pans, pots, crockery etc for us all, lots of games, 2 tvs for films and comfy sofas when we had games nights.

Clean beds and bedding/towels. Lots of games available and jacuzzi ready on our arrival plus washing machine and dryer available. Was a brilliant stay. These are not complaints but we would like to give positive feedback that the dryer doesn't work very well and we had to have it on longer to completely dry clothes, if its updated it would take less time and electricity, also the pot holes in the drive are very deep and could do with filling and the top shower stopped working after a while but I see this may be a normal issue from seeing past feedback, these 3 things wouldn't stop us coming again as we just worked around them but not everyone is like us, we all thought that there are so many postives about our stay these were just small niggles we just loved it. We also loved the old homely feel and if it were a person we would call it eccentric, I would recommend Gringoed House to anyone who wants time away together as a family group, also we found walks 15 minutes away along the coast and coastal bays where we could take dogs and family only areas too.

This quirky old holiday property is exactly what we were expecting.

The negative reviews did Initially concern us before we arrived, however we weren’t disappointed once we arrived. There was lots and lots of room seating areas on different levels. The children had an abundance of boardgames on the upper level and a games room With pool table and table tennis table downstairs which they made full use of. The hot tub was never out of use with the five grandchildren and many hours of laughter. The hot tub was spotless, but over the week it did accumulate debris from the overhanging shrubs / leaves above the boundary fence naturally falling down. It was a lovely fully enclosed garden, which yes, could’ve done with a bit of tidy but due to bird nesting season, you have to be very careful what you’re cutting back at this time of year. The kitchen area was very bright with ample pots and pans for the larger parties. But we’re really comfortable and there’s lots of clean towels, but we did bring our own for the hot tub. We had three cars, there was ample parking and Jamie and his Team are really friendly and on hand if we needed help. The beaches are quite nearby and nuchal. It’s literally 20 minutes away excellent fish and chips. Thank you, Jamie and the team x

on the whole the stay was ok.

issues with the hot tub and sliding door should have been resolved by now,the door will come off one day and hurt somebody.the outside area really needs some tlc,around the hot tub was dirty, furniture on the patio was dirty and not usable. overall the house was idel for our party 11 adults,3 under 10 children ,updating in a lot of areas is needed considering the price we paid for a 3 night stay.

The major disappointment for us was that the property has only 5 bedrooms, not 6 as the ad says.

The “single room” is actually a single bed in a corner of the games room - you couldn’t possibly have someone sleeping there and also use the table tennis or pool tables or the piano at the same time. We had planned the single room to be for a young child who’d be asleep while the adults played table tennis and pool. Once you take that into account, it’s a very adequate house. The kitchen was well equipped apart from having only a small cafetiere and not enough mugs and glasses for a lot of people (even with those we asked for and were given), and it could do with more teaspoons (think yogurt for pudding or breakfast) and small sharp knives. The public rooms were spacious and attractive, with grapes growing over your head in the downstairs sitting room, and a great view from the upstairs one. There was enough comfortable seating in each. The bedrooms could have done with better blackout blinds for children sleeping there (some windows have them while others in the same room don’t). The hot tub always seemed to work for us even though the spanner symbol was there (others have complained about this). The barbecue is big and there are decent BBQ tools. Care is needed not to lose food through the grating. The wifi worked only sporadically. We found the owner helpful and responsive. This sounds like a lot of complaints but, apart from the number of bedrooms, they’re really just niggles. The accommodation was good for us (10 adults and 2 small children) and we had a great time there. The games room was great, though if you have your own cue / bats you may prefer them to some that are there. The house has a huge variety of board games and jigsaws so no need to bring those apart from your must-have favourites.

The property is very quirky but also could be classed as quite old fashioned.

The tree feature is amazing, however we did feel the property needed a bit more maintenance. The hot tub had constant problems and the overall outdoor area isn't really looked after very well. We did have a fantastic time though and the property ticked a lot of our boxes.

The listing photographs must have been taken when the property was first marketed and never updated because the current condition does not reflect those photographs.

The owner should consider telling occupants about the state of the approach road with all its potholes and blind corners before an accident occurs. The garden, which is nowhere as large as the photographs imply, was virtually unusable due to very long grass, nettles and overgrown shrubbery. The owner suggests that they can fine you if you leave dog poo in the garden but ensuring that can be achieved should not be a treasure hunt. We followed the rubbish procedure as requested only to find that the food waste bin was attacked overnight by some mutant creature that ate its way through the lid creating a large enough hole for it to climb through making it unusable for the rest of our stay. We all spotted a very large rat the next day patrolling the garden. The area for placing the rubbish is wide open to rodent attack. We had no alternative but to put the food waste directly onto the compost heap as we saw other visitors doing which again is not an ideal scenario because again it will attract rodents making it a possible hazard to all visitors. As reported by other visitors we found the property clean on the surface but on closer inspection it left a lot to be desired and the hot tub was frequently showing the spanner mode. It says that it is awaiting an engineer visit but I would suggest that this as been ongoing for quite a while considering the amount of visitors who have reported this. The smell from the kitchen cupboard where the bin is stored is atrocious and can not be subdued. The sliding door which opens out into the hot tub area can be difficult too close. The owners have put instructions on the door but the opening statement really relays the problem - 'This door is old'.

Loved the cottage and location, despite the pot holes which we quickly got use to navigating.

So quirky. We were a group of 14 with ages ranging from 21 to 88, and all thoroughly enjoyed the stay. The games room was superb although we did have to go and buy some ping pong balls to play table tennis. The 6th bedroom is the games room which was impractical to use as one so one couple had to sleep in the upper lounge on a blow up mattress. The downstairs bedroom was ideal for our elderly parents and the walk in shower. Unfortunately the shower upstairs stopped working after 3 days. It was reported but not dealt with whilst we were there, but we had the use of 2 showers downstairs. Wonderful large kitchen. There was plenty of crockery for us all but did feel that it could do with more day to day cups and glasses and paring knives. The hot tub was used on 2 occasions, but was not working fully as advised by a small notice on patio door. Lovely large garden but looking overgrown, probably due to poor previous weather. Loved the open plan high glass ceiling and the vines. Such a wonderful space for all of us and amazing artefacts and books around the cottage. Would definitely stay again.

Kids called the raod leading to this house pot hole road (the're right).

When we arrived I was really upset the house had apparently been getting cleaned all day but this place was dirty and smelled especially in the cupboards. One of the bedrooms was advertised as a queen adjustermatic bed but on arrival found this to only be a single so brother had to the sleep on the sofa for the whole week as no one was willing to do anything about it. We also noted broken wires coming from this bed was told by sykes an electrician would attend, 24 hrs later maintenance man with some tape turns up to tape it. The w/c up stairs carpet was wet with wee on arrival, this never dried out and smelled so bad. The whole house had lots broken or damaged bits. The hot tub looks old and has a crack at the bottom of it and damaged material, and the spannner light kept coming up on the control panel. Saturday night the sliding door pin drops of the runner we managed to close it tried calling owner but wouldn't answer but then ask me to text him. So I told him the issue he said he would call someone Monday. We had no update and the door was never repaired during our stay. Upstairs living room has a balcony on it the hand railings only reach 870mm well this should be a minimum of 1100mm. I have taken up all my issues with sykes.

Normal hot water tap too hot, and it's the only feed to the washing machine so ruined clothes.

Previous reviews mentioned this but not been fixed. Large patio door hinge broken and dangerous - old signs regarding door and hot tub problems, but neither fixed. Long driveway with large potholes. Other than that it was a large, well equipped quirky house.

Cottage is beautiful and very spacious, plenty of kitchenwear and home comforts.

The washing machine is very small and the temperature always seemed to stay the same and actually ruined a couple of my boys football tops as it melted the lettering.. The WiFi is very unstable x struggled to connect the television at times.

Very nice place for small groups

We had a lovely stay , well equipped cottage , beds were comfortable.

There was plenty of games to play and some amazing and interesting antique features, toys,books pictures and trinkets. Good base camp for the area to explore we would book again Thank you .