Château Rhianfa

In keeping with the theme of an old hotel, I understood it was going to have period charm. For £297 we expected more than a tiny old and tired room with red hot piping across the ceiling and up the walls. The room was an oven. We had to have the door open most of the time. Whilst the food was nice, it was expensive for what it was. In total we laid out over £500 for one night and dinner with one round of drinks. For that I'd expect a decent room. They supplied a fan but should have moved us. Or at least acknowledged how poor our stay had been. There were very few guests staying. The main measure of a stay is 'would you go back?!

We stayed at Chateau Rhianfa, in the lodge, for one night as a surprise birthday present for my partner. We had a lovely time, made even better by great weather. I picked the lodge as the view from the window in the Pen y Castell room is stunning. I planned a picnic for my partner, so to sit at the table by the window was perfect. There is also a nice area of decking outside the Lodge for guests to use. Later we strolled around the gardens which lead right down to the Menai Straits and had a couple of drinks from the bar. We sat outside listening to some nice music from the banqueting hall, I think there was a wedding meal in there. Then later moved upstairs to sit on the balcony of the morning room with more outstanding views. There were nice rooms to explore, such as the music room where another guest even played a piece on the piano, fair play it was good, so hats off to them. We had a great breakfast the following morning. There was a good choice of cooked food or pastries, fruit, yoghurt etc. In light of some other reviews on here I would like to make some observations. Yes, I could imagine in the lodge it might get noisy if you were in there with inconsiderate guests. We soon realised, yes, our door could slam closed, so after that we were careful with it. We realised that, yes, the walls might not be soundproof so we were careful with any noise such as when we had the TV on for a bit. I don't think the lodge was fully occupied but there were definitely a few other people in there and we weren't disturbed at all and had a great night's sleep in a large and comfy bed. The room was great overall. We weren't disturbed by any noises from water systems either but I guess maybe if someone is running a tap or flushing a toilet at 3am you might be. Again I think being considerate is important. I have stayed in a gaod few other hotels and you can have bad luck if you do happen to be near other guests who are noisy or come crashing down the corridors in the middle of night after too many drinks. All the staff we came into contact with were very friendly and most helpful. The gardens whilst not in pristine condition are still impressive and as the Chateau was built in the 19th century it might be expected to show signs of age! The Chateau is unique and is definitely a sight to behold. An absolutely wonderful stay, thank you to all the staff, we would love to visit again.