The Pembrokeshire Holiday Company Avis 

We are on holiday at bwthyn capten in Newport Pembrokeshire. The cottage itself is just lovely old and quirky just what we like. I am not one to complain but I have to mention these few things. Every cottage we have been to in Pembrokeshire has had a welcome pack which is lovely on arrival, there was no welcome pack which we were disappointed. Lack of utensil in the kitchen draw. No clear bags for rubbish which they stated they had for recycling. Nothing to handle fire door when warm. Cooker oven door was dirty and kitchen wasn't up to a high standard of cleanliness as some cutlery and utensils dirty. Not good enough. There were still logs in the fire that had burnt out and not been cleaned away from previous guests. All these little things should be adhered too as it goes a long way especially for the reputation of the company. Apart from all these things it's a lovely cottage with beautiful garden and view. My husband myself and my dog love Pembrokeshire. PUT A WELCOME PACK FOR GUESTS. IT WILL BE MUCH APPRECIATED.

We stayed in one of the birch huts at the Old Vicarage in Moylegrove.

Whilst our stay was very peaceful, it was rather spoiled by the incorrect information on the website, through which we had booked directly.

Specifically, the website, which is current for 2023, states:

'A welcome hamper of fresh eggs from our hens, orange juice, organic local milk, teapigs tea, fairtrade coffee and a loaf of homemade bread will start you off just right.'

There was no welcome hamper - no fresh eggs, no orange juice, no Teapigs tea and no homemade bread. The coffee bags were from The Little Coffee Company, which does not carry the Fairtrade kite mark. There was only one 'normal' Clipper tea bag, the rest were Earl Grey and fruit teas.

When we raised the lack of a hamper with Meg on the afternoon of our arrival, she did not acknowledge any mention of hampers on the website and only sounded surprised that we had not been provided with any milk, which she then provided. When my partner raised this again when he was checking out, Meg took £10 off our final bill. This however doesn't take away from the fact that The Old Vicarage is contravening the Trade Descriptions Act (1968) which aims to safeguard consumers against misleading claims about products and services. It is there to ensure that businesses and salespeople are honest about what they are selling, because to do otherwise is an offence. Meg seemed to pass the issue off as simply a matter of the website not having been updated, saying that the Old Vicarage no longer provides hampers for the birch huts. However, the website is dated 2023. Apart from anything else, it was disappointing to not get what we had been expecting (especially as we booked direct through the website) and made worse by Meg's laid-back attitude to this.

Also claimed on the website is that the birch hut has 'a gorgeous memory foam & pocket sprung king size bed'. It was not this at all. Not only was the mattress not memory foam and pocket sprung, it was in fact old, sagging and stained.

We found it rather odd that we received an email and a text message asking us to check in online. The email stated the reason for 'express check-in prior to arrival' was 'to avoid queues at the front desk'. However, bearing in mind that The Old Vicarage is a small bed and breakfast establishment and not a large international airline, this seemed rather out of proportion. In addition, bearing in mind the check-in email was from the 'Reception team', it was surprisingly difficult to find anyone from the team to settle our bill with on the morning of our departure, despite the fact that we were checking out at the required time. When my partner finally located Meg, after having gone upstairs in the main house to ask someone who was cleaning the bedrooms, Meg said she had been out walking her dog. Again, it was odd that she was out walking her dog at check out time when people would be needing to pay their bills and that there was nobody else from the reception 'team' available to take our payment.

We received an automated email following our stay, saying the Old Vicarage hoped we enjoyed our stay. I replied to the email giving details about why we would not book to stay here again, but I received no reply from the Old Vicarage. The have not bothered to update their website so it still contains incorrect information. I am in the process of taking the matter to Trading Standards.