“We had previously stayed at Brynawelon before the pandemic and had loved it, albeit having no washing machine (a big minus) and no second bathroom (a bigger minus).”
The facilities are lovely and modern, and the garden ideal for us, with dogs. However, this time, we were very cross indeed to find that the back doors were not locking, and this was something that had been noted in the Visitors Book over the last year, quite regularly. I contacted the 'local rep' who was quite helpful and suggested how to manipulate the handle to lock the door, and, although I tried this, it was in vain. The door was beyond repair. On the same day, a local maintenance man came to put a temporary repair in place and asked if we didn't mind if the local door and window company came and fitted a new door on the Monday. We had no choice but to agree as we didn't want to leave the property unlocked (no matter how 'safe' the area is regarded). We also have a senior dog who finds getting around very difficult at this stage, so we couldn't take her out with us on the day the repairs were due to be made. Monday came and the fitters arrived at 8.10 am (supposed to be 9), and were there until just after 12. Although personable enough, this was hugely disruptive. As an additional note, we had lost our other senior dog days before this trip and were filled with sorrow and just needed peace and quiet to grieve.
I found that contacting Sykes was incredibly difficult. There is no function of being able to simply call the office on the website, not unless you look in the very small print, and eventually resorted to CoPilot to find the number for me. Again, the phone call was highly frustrating having to make option 1, 2, or 3, and then again, the same procedure. Quite ridiculous, quite frankly.
We eventually managed to get through and spoke to a lovely lady who was very sympathetic and helped us. Due to the disruption and inconvenience caused, which essentially cost us an entire day, I e-mailed to ask for either an additional day at no charge, or a refund to the value of one day's worth. I was then sent an e-mail from Sykes saying that the owner was prepared to refund £50 as a "goodwill gesture" (as though not appreciating our predicament, and just to 'shut us up'), which was her "first and final offer". There was no apology whatsoever. I noted this in my reply and the response from Sykes said that this would be sent on to the owner.
The guy who first came to temporarily fix the door said that there had been no end of trouble with the door, and with visitors essentially not looking after the property. I can understand the owner's frustration if this is the case, but I felt we were given no compassion whatsoever, as a couple who have always looked after every property that we have stayed in.
This all left a very bad taste; added more unpleasantness to the trip that we desperately needed to be quiet and stress free; and left me feeling quite cross with the owner herself.
Having looked at several properties before deciding again on Brynawelon for this stay, based on our previous experience, I shall NOT choose Brynawelon again, in the future. I'm doubtful that I would choose Sykes, too, to be honest, because of how difficult it was to get through to ANYONE to help us.
