“We’ve just made our third booking to stay at Stable Cottage once again.”
We found it after our previous holiday let in the area sold up and we needed to look for alternative accommodation. As we have a border collie it was important to find somewhere that was welcoming and had somewhere safe for her to pad around. When we initially found Stable Cottage on Sykes’ website we were a little hesitant because of the note regarding the narrow access lane to the cottage stating max width of 1.85m. I knew that my car, a large estate car, was wider than that and wasn’t keen on parking my car away from the property. However, a Google Street View search showed me other cars parked up the lane that were larger than mine so we gambled on it being fine. The access lane is indeed snug at a pinch point at the bottom, and you’d want to be confident in the extremities of your car, but I was able to get the car up and down without too much issue. The car was too long to turn around so I would reverse back out. The second time we came we were in my wife’s car which is much smaller and we could had enough room to turn around in the generous parking spot for the cottage. The cottage itself was ideal for our requirements. It has all of the facilities we look for. The kitchen is well stocked and if we want to cook at home we can do. The sofas are comfy to relax on of an evening. The TV has all the channels we need, and the Wi-fi is strong to the main areas of the cottage, although a little weaker in the downstairs bedroom. The garden is fully enclosed so it’s safe for our dog to be in, and large enough to kick a ball or throw a frisbee for her. There is a short gap between the door to Stable Cottage and the garden gate so do supervise your dog when you let them out as they could wander up the path to other properties, but once in the garden and the gate closed it is totally enclosed. There is a large bathroom on the main living floor, along with the living room, kitchen and second bedroom which has two single beds. The main bedroom is downstairs, with its own toilet and shower cubicle. There is a bit of a musty smell in the downstairs bedroom, which is symptom of the nature of the building and should perhaps be expected of this period of property. The downstairs bathroom is very small, tucked under the stairs, so you need to mind your head. But, the shower is really nice with plenty of hot water. From our point of view, Stable Cottage is ideal. As a professional product tester and reviewer for Amazon it is always my duty to highlight elements that might not be so welcome to everyone, even if I can overlook them myself. The access lane is indeed narrow, and not everyone will be comfortable with threading their cars between the pinch points. There is a pay-and-display car park a minute’s walk from Stable Cottage, and a week’s ticket can be purchased at the machine which I noted was actually very good value. There are a number of slate steps up to the door of the property which should be noted, and can be slippery in wet conditions. Stable Cottage has a slightly odd layout, in that you enter through a communal door at ground level, proceed through a corridor and emerge back out into the open, up some steps and then turn right up a few more steps to the door of the property. You actually enter the property on the first floor. That may not entirely suit people with restricted mobility, so it’s worth me noting. I’ve noted the main bedroom has a slight musty smell, and the bathroom off of it is very small. But, that’s the limit of what I can think of as being negatives. And like I say I can over look those when balanced against the positives of the cottage itself and its location. I’ve personally been holidaying in Ceredigion since I was a baby in the late 70’s, and my family for many years before that, so we’re very familiar with the area and have many places of interests to go to and wonderful places to eat. So much so my wife and I married at the local Cardigan Castle several years ago. The location of Stable Cottage is only a 1-2 minute walk up the lane to Cardigan high street which is full of decent shops, pubs, sandwich stands etc. and there are a number of superb restaurants in the town so if you fancy a drink you don’t have to worry about driving. Crwst is one of the finest cafes in Wales, and has received many awards and is also dog friendly. The Pizza Tippi on the banks of the river serves fantastic pizzas, the Copper Pot and 1176 at Cardigan Castle serve stunning high-end food while Yr Hen Printworks is a Michelin accredited restaurant. There are a number of pubs that serve great food too, such as the Grosvenor, and if you just want a take-away there’s the Pendre fish & chip shop on the high street along with a Chinese, a couple of Indian’s, and Rominos pizza and kebabs which we’ve been to on many occasions. A short drive over the river and around to St Dogmaels you’ll find The Ferry Inn which is another excellent restaurant. Cardigan has a great little theatre/cinema called the Mwldan, 2-3 minute’s walk from Stable Cottage. There’s a decent Tesco supermarket, with petrol station, and an Aldi too. The renowned Teifi Marshes Nature Reserve can be reached on foot from the cottage, and Poppit Sands is a short drive away and is a vast beach that is very dog friendly. For us, Stable Cottage has proven to be a great base for us set off for days out at our regular haunts up and down the coast of Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire, and to come back and take a stroll to a favourite restaurant to wind down in the evening.
