We had a lovely time exploring Anglesey and Ty Rhos Newydd is a genuinely stunning property in a beautiful, private rural location. The online guide is excellent and contains pretty much everything you need, along with lots of helpful additional information.
There is so much to see and do nearby. Highlights for us were Newborough Forest and Llanddwyn Island, including doing the Parkrun there, Beaumaris, the views along the Menai Strait from National Trust Plas Newydd, Pennington Point and RSPB South Stack. We also loved having Benllech beach relatively close by. If you visit Beaumaris, we’d particularly recommend The Grove Café.
The house itself is beautiful and very well presented, with some lovely spaces. The cinema room is a great addition and the main bathroom is fantastic, with its freestanding bath and large shower. One of the other bedrooms also has a beautiful shower set-up. The enclosed location gives the property a real sense of privacy. We did notice a few minor cleanliness issues during our stay, although these may simply have been a one-off.
Unfortunately, the biggest issue for us was the temperature of the house. We stayed in October and found it cool to the point of being uncomfortable at times. The heating and towel rails cannot be controlled by guests. The towel rails come on once a day at a time that isn’t disclosed, so the opportunity to have dry towels is fairly limited. The underfloor heating never felt noticeably warm to us, although we were advised that it was on and designed to provide more ambient heat. We have stayed in a number of properties with underfloor heating and have normally been able to feel some warmth from it.
We contacted the support email a couple of times and received very prompt responses, which we appreciated. However, as the heating is controlled by the owners and they considered the temperature to be sufficient, there wasn’t really anything further that could be done. For us, this was particularly disappointing because it ultimately affected our enjoyment of an otherwise beautiful property.
A couple of other things are worth knowing before booking. The beds are described as king-size, but in our experience they didn’t feel quite to the standard we would expect from the rest of the house. The online information also explains that the hot tub is cleaned before arrival and therefore may not be at full temperature. In our case, arriving on Monday evening meant it wasn’t really comfortable to use until Tuesday evening. The welcome pack shown in the information consists of small sachets of long-life milk and three individual packets of biscuits, rather than a more substantial welcome pack. This wasn’t an issue for us as we had arranged a Tesco delivery, but it’s useful to know in advance.
We didn’t use the outdoor games room as, in October, it felt quite damp and didn’t smell particularly fresh, although we’re sure it would be a great space in warmer weather.
Overall, Ty Rhos Newydd is a beautiful house in an excellent location and Anglesey itself was fantastic. Sadly, though, our abiding memory of the property will be feeling cold. In the end, despite the lovely house and everything the area had to offer, we decided to leave a day early and head home for a warm-up.
With better control of the heating for guests, we feel this could be a truly exceptional place to stay.