Penlan Holiday Park

A disappointing end

Our first holiday here began well. The cabin was comfortable and the staff were pleasant, until the owner of the cabin decided they suddenly wanted to visit while we were staying there. We were very inconveniently turfed out and moved on our penultimate day, albeit to a better cabin (but disturbed the next morning and told we should have left by 10:30am). The management very kindly offered us a free weekend as compensation.

As we have two teenage children, we asked for a three bed cabin (which was what we had been staying in all week) for our next booking. When we turned up for our free weekend a month later, we had been placed in an extremely small two bed cabin in a desolate area of the park. The standard of the cabin was very poor and it was far too small for our family. Half the lights in the lounge didn’t work, the shower was broken, there were dead insects in the curtains, there was a live maggot in one of the saucepans, dirty cutlery, the teapot had mould and dead spiders in it and the Jack Russell who belongs to the park was allowed to run around all night barking keeping us awake.

We decided to leave the next day, but as we could not find anyone to speak to (the reception was closed at 5pm), we posted the key and sent an email politely complaining when we got home. We have yet to receive a response from the park but I won’t hold my breath. I cannot believe that this was the only cabin available in Sept/Oct and they should not have agreed to the weekend if they could not provide like for like after the inconvenience caused last time. A thoroughly disappointing weekend and very unprofessional to not even acknowledge our complaint.

My husband and I along with our 2 year old granddaughter stayed here on 2/9/17 in Tawelfa 3 lodge. We opened the door and the stench of damp musty smell hit us. It was very unpleasant. There were air fresheners everywhere and window open when we arrived, which had no effect on the odour whatsoever.I had to wash the grill pan before we could use it as it was still dirty. IV never been on holiday where I have had to make up the beds before getting into them. When we did go to bed our bed had a damp feel. Not pleasant at all. On the Tuesday evening we decided we could not spend another night in this lodge because we found the smell too much, and packed up the next morning and left, 4 days early. I emailed the owner when returning home, and recieved a very unsympathetic email back, and was basically called a liar. The whole experience was very disappointing and a complete waste of money. There are toomany trees around this lodge which made it also very dark. Always had to have lights on no matter what time of day. Will never return to this place.

My wife booked for a week, she was advised to pay by BACS payment only as there were no other facilities to accept full payment. Once payment was made, there was no receipt or email confirmation whatsoever, we phoned to confirm but still nothing in writing arrived even after 2 or 3 times of asking. On arrival, there was no formal welcome, we were provided with keys & a map, we even had to fix the bed after having a bad first nights sleep. The first evening meal also we decided to dine at the bar/restaurant, food was nice but there was no organisation whatsoever as the orders were mixed up i.e. we were either brought wrong orders or as it ended I had my meal served at a totally different time slot as my wife & daughter so although together, we ate apart!! We even had to pay in the reception office as there was no option to pay by card in the bar/restaurant area due to the card machine not picking up on wifi, we did not eat there again!
The lodge we had been provided with was full of damp!!!.....so bad that my wife's slight asthma was brought on to be quite an issue towards the end of week, to the point where we only ended staying for 6 nights rather than the 7 that we initially booked for, as for making a complaint, there was never anybody around to communicate with even to the point where on booking out, I was greeted by a teenage girl who did not work at the facility but she advised her father owned the place & notified me to ' Come back later in order to book out'!!...... I kindly suggested, I was leaving right away & to pass the keys on to her father..... so even at that point, I could not discuss & make a formal complaint.
Finally, the holiday village is in beautiful surroundings, I would often use it for walking my 6 month old puppy but apart from all the wildlife, most mornings & evenings I found we were followed by this not so friendly female Jack Russell wandering the camp, I had been informed by a reliable source to keep an eye out for the dog as it was full of flees & had not received the annual injections that dogs require so potentially this could be quite harmful towards other dogs, it was also a ferocious type as it seemed to always follow & wander the park looking out for my dog .......apparently it was owned by the owners of the park so not really acceptable!!!
I can see from other reviews, quite good scores & satisfied customers, unfortunately Penlan holiday village I cannot continue this trend...... I will not be returning!!!! If you wish Penlan, you can reply & query my poor review but if the initial contact or payment confirmation is anything to go by, I will not attempt to hold my breath awaiting an email!!

If you like a lot of fun and a lot of great scenery also if you like walking then this is the right place for you

Stayed here for a week a short while ago, it was utter bliss, so quiet and peaceful, just waking up to the birds singing. I stayed too early for the pool, cafe, shop etc. to be open so not able to comment there. Because of difficulties with the first lodge I was upgraded to a more superior one with no extra charge. The staff are very laid back but helpful when needed. As the nearest shop/garage is about 3 miles away planning is needed when taking food etc. The electricity is provided by a ticket system that you can buy from a machine in the laundry. (Takes only old £1. coins at the moment) tho. higher denomination cards can be purchased from Reception. Thoroughly recommended for a quiet and relaxing time especially out of season. Don't forget to visit Cenarth Falls (about 3 miles away) and take a walk along the river. Plenty of other places to visit as long as you are prepared to have a drive.

Brilliant place loved it so much I bought a lodge and am here all the time

Great place. Friendly staff. Kids loved the cinema room. Good food and beer.

Beautiful site. Great lodge. Excellent, helpful, friendly staff, great pool and bar area. No complaints at all.
Thank you to Alistair and Andrew.