From The Blog, Hotel Reviews

Frankie goes to the Bodnant Estate, Colwyn Bay


Nestled in the hills on the Bodnant Estate in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, Ty Ucha’r Ffordd is a cosy stone cottage with fabulous views across to Snowdonia. If you’re looking for a tranquil, rural retreat for you and your dog, this is the perfect place. Along with compact but comfortable accommodation, you also have access to the miles of private woodland paths winding through the Estate.

Image of Ty Uchar Ffordd cottage on the Bodnant Estate
Ty Uchar Ffordd cottage with plenty of private parking on the left

The Paw Award

Everyone knows we dogs normally have four paws, so to get a five paw award is super special. Four is an extremely positive Frankie recommendation, any less and it’s just a question of personal choice.

Friendly & welcoming atmosphere

From the moment we arrived and unlocked the front door (accessed through a key lock code), we felt at home. The cottage is certainly compact and bijou, but it’s so cosy and well laid out with everything you need. It’s clean and tidy, but ‘lived in’ which meant it was easy to relax and the dogs settled immediately.

There was a generous welcome hamper on the table when we arrived – a luxury nowadays as most self catering properties cite Covid as a reason to forgo this. The hamper was full of Bodnant Estate quality goodies and we also received 10% off food produce at the shop and plants from the garden centre.

The hamper from Bodnant Estate
Bodnant Estate goodies – there were also delicious free range eggs

It was a wet and blustery November and we made good use of the log burner – the logs supplied by the Estate – but it’s toasty just with the central heating.

Helpful staff

We originally booked the cottage through Rural Retreats for February 2021, but then Covid closed down the country; the company Managing Director promptly emailed to offer us a voucher, rebook or a full refund. All email communication with the friendly Rural Retreats team was dealt with efficiently and the whole process was easy.

Freya and Frankie cockapoos relaxing in their dog beds

Accommodation suitability & cost per dog

It was a squeeze to fit the dog beds in the sitting room, but no more so than if we were in a hotel. It states there is a charge per dog, but either it’s just included in the price or they didn’t charge us. Either way, all 10 self catering cottages on the Bodnant Estate are dog friendly, and we didn’t have to declare we were bringing dogs, just adults/children.

Image of the bathroom with shower
Bathroom with separate shower

There was a shower over the bath in case of a full blow immersion in water is needed, but the utility room was a real bonus as it meant it was easy to wash dog paws after long walks around the Estate. The facilities included a washing machine with built in tumble dryer, a fridge and a small freezer and a dishwasher.

Utility room

Little extras offered

Image of dog bowls and poo bags

There were two dog bowls, a dog towel and poo bags in the utility room.

Image of the view from the bedroom window
The view from the main bedroom window

Location and dog walks

The cottage has a large enclosed garden, perfect for early morning doodle dashing and toileting without having to leave the property. There are two private paths after a short walk on the rarely used road from the cottage. Most of the walks are off lead, although there are sheep in one or two of the fields so leads are necessary, and a few pheasants strutting their stuff to watch out for if your dog’s prone to chase birds. There are also numerous walks in the area and Freya and Frankie really enjoyed walks in the Gwydir Forest Park, Betws-y-coed.

Image of one of the private gates on the Bodnant Estate

Frankie awarded Ty Ucha’r Ffordd 5 Paws

5 Paw Award

If you want to discover more about the cottages available on the Bodnant Estate please visit their website here. However, we do recommend Rural Retreats as a booking agent and we will use them again.

To take a look at other accommodation reviewed by Frankie just click here.

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