LLC - places to stay

[honesty]

I'm going to be cycling the LLC in July and like to have everything booked up before hand so I don't have to worry when I cycle.

I'm looking at staying at the following places, so would like peoples views, or alternatives if they can suggest ones:

Day 1, Golan. Cwm Pennant Hostel. Looks nice, includes and evening meal as well, so no need to hunt around.
Day 2, Machynlleth. Reditreks? Not sure if this place still exists, there doesn't seem to be much of an up to date web presence.
Day 3, Newbridge on Wye. Pigs Folly. One online review is not very flattering, but I'm willing to give it a go.
Day 4, Pantygelli. Smithy's Bunkhouse. Looks nice but again the website doesn't seem very up to date. Bonus of being opposite a pub.

[tyreon]

Last year I happened to be around Cardigan Sands and looked in at Poppit Bay YH. It was closed. Later I was surprised to see it voted the Best Youth Hostel in the country(England/Wales?). Maybe it was from the BBC travellers who never stay at YH but at the 5* hotels nearby! From outside looking in the YH looked a DUMP! The outer building(reflecting its interior?)looked damp,mouldy,cold. Inside there were torn mattresses and tables and chairs thrown higeldy-piggedly around. Bare rooms,scattered papers. Most unwelcoming. A nissen hut job.

Up near Settle(whilst staying in a self catering cottage)we looked into a YH about there. The building was nestled in a small dell of a hill. Walking into the joint to inspect it, the bottom area was dank,dark,cold and dishevelled. Appearances: very uninviting. The building was unattended. Wotta dump! Little wonder independent travellers choose to spend that extra and go B+B or budget hotel for the night. For myself I'd rather camp than zzzz herein. Bus shelters don't seem too bad sometime: after 9pm string groundsheet across bus shelter opening creating your own personal bivvi: sleeping mat down,sleeping bag out,happy zzzzzs)

Maybe our army could use some of these joints as target practice when using howitzers or the like. I'd be game to pay a tenner to fire a 2 tonne shell to destroy some. OTT?

[phil parker]

I intended to cycle LLC (and back) in October, but had to postpone, but I intend to go again probably in April 2016. I will be camping, but I will keep an eye on what's available if I can remember!

[whoof]

Two of us rode the LLC last year.

The closest to Golan we stayed was Portmadog, we stayed in a B and B there are plenty to choose from.

In Machynlleth we stayed at the White Lion. It was nice and we also had a meal which was pretty good.
http://www.whitelionhotel.co.uk/index.html

In Newbridge on Wye we stayed at the New Inn. The was OK and the food was pretty good. If I remember rightly the owners were a bit miserable.
http://www.pigsfolly.co.uk/About_NewInn.htm

Nearest to Pantygelli was Abergavenny where we stayed in the Blacksheep Backpackers. You can choose either a room or a dorm. As there were two of us and there wasn't much in it we choose a room. The place is a bit dated but the owners were really friendly and we met some nice people.
http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/wa ... wwodSZwJ5A

[honesty]

I rather like the look of the hostel at Golan, and they do an evening meal option which is a bonus.

Thanks for the hotel suggestion, I will investigate them.

Found the Trip advisor reviews for Pigs Folly yesterday. There are a number of negative reviews that seem to be focused on the decor being dated and the proprietors being miserable gits. I think I can deal with those problems for a tenner!

That's a good alternative to where I was looking at as I don't think the place I was looking at offered breakfasts. I was going to have to head into Abergavenny to get that anyway.

[james01]

Have you thought of camping? No room-sharing etc. No need to book so you're not tied to a daily target, just take a list of site contacts along the route. We took minimal tents & sleeping bags, never failed to find a site and spent the money saved on lavish breakfasts & suppers.
I reckoned that the extra weight slowed us by about 2%, this equates to an extra 7 minutes cycling on a 6 hour day to cover the same distance!

[honesty]

Yes but there are a number of factors that mean this isnt the best idea.
1. My tent weighs 5kg
2. I use a Carridice nelson, and have a bagman on my bike at the moment.
3. I have no money to update either of the first 2 points.

May change in the new year as I am going to be getting a Dawes Coast to Coast on a cycle to work scheme (I want the gran tour but work bonus was not good this year! ), but still leaves the problem with tent weight. I also prefer a largish tent that I can actually sleep in as opposed to a coffin as well, which doesn't help when looking for reasonable cost replacement items.

[meic]

Last year I happened to be around Cardigan Sands and looked in at Poppit Bay YH. It was closed. Later I was surprised to see it voted the Best Youth Hostel in the country(England/Wales?). Maybe it was from the BBC travellers who never stay at YH but at the 5* hotels nearby! From outside looking in the YH looked a DUMP! The outer building(reflecting its interior?)looked damp,mouldy,cold. Inside there were torn mattresses and tables and chairs thrown higeldy-piggedly around. Bare rooms,scattered papers. Most unwelcoming. A nissen hut job.

Up near Settle(whilst staying in a self catering cottage)we looked into a YH about there. The building was nestled in a small dell of a hill. Walking into the joint to inspect it, the bottom area was dank,dark,cold and dishevelled. Appearances: very uninviting. The building was unattended. Wotta dump! Little wonder independent travellers choose to spend that extra and go B+B or budget hotel for the night. For myself I'd rather camp than zzzz herein. Bus shelters don't seem too bad sometime: after 9pm string groundsheet across bus shelter opening creating your own personal bivvi: sleeping mat down,sleeping bag out,happy zzzzzs)

Maybe our army could use some of these joints as target practice when using howitzers or the like. I'd be game to pay a tenner to fire a 2 tonne shell to destroy some. OTT?

You appear to have made some mistake here, I think that you were looking at the wrong building. Poppit sands is a very clean pristine building with the best, cleanest, most modern kitchen that I have ever come across in a YHA.
I seem to recall a building that fits your description on the road and on the other side of the YHA's drive to the YHA itself.
It is also nowhere near the LLC.

The pictures in this YHA webpage show what I found at that hostel.
http://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/poppit-sands

[Richard Fairhurst]

You appear to have made some mistake here, I think that you were looking at the wrong building. Poppit sands is a very clean pristine building with the best, cleanest, most modern kitchen that I have ever come across in a YHA.

It also has a very comfortable sofa in the lounge. Which is handy when the world's worst snorer has been placed in your dorm.

[honesty]

Yes but there are a number of factors that mean this isnt the best idea.
1. My tent weighs 5kg
2. I use a Carridice nelson, and have a bagman on my bike at the moment.
3. I have no money to update either of the first 2 points.

May change in the new year as I am going to be getting a Dawes Coast to Coast on a cycle to work scheme (I want the gran tour but work bonus was not good this year! ), but still leaves the problem with tent weight. I also prefer a largish tent that I can actually sleep in as opposed to a coffin as well, which doesn't help when looking for reasonable cost replacement items.

Also meant to say I have a lot of time sitting at desks in work where I can plan every minute detail beforehand, which then allows me to be free to do what I want when I actually start touring, I don't have to think about anything other than looking around and pedaling the bike (I even identify coffee stops at the right mileages beforehand so I don't have to worry about getting food etc. when riding!) Oddly I have no problem going off route as long as I know what the target is at the end of the day and that if I wanted I have a planned route with me.

Here's a snapshot of my current LLC plan...

[james01]

Impressive planning, and I do take your point that it reduces angst about where to stay.

[honesty]

You should see the one I have for my JoGLE trip, the trip I'm not even doing for 18 months. I also have all the routes fully planned out on Garmin Connect. I work in IT and sit at a desk most days. It whiles away the time

[tyreon]

Earlier I'd reviewed Poppit Sands and one other YH. I was 'corrected'(not quite the right terminology) here by Meic and perhaps one other. Sometimes I try to be as anodyne as possible(to defer criticism). This time I seem to have shot from the hip. I have reviewed others review of my own: perhaps I was cranky that day,saw it when I was freezing or some other excuse. I see others pics and note their moderated reviews. I can't challenge them. Looks fine,great really. Still,this time 'I do believe it was this hostel I looked into from outside' and...it was...at my time of viewing...unwelcoming. I shorthanded my review to a DUMP. Maybe they redone the place the next day or I have become a snob. I am getting more difficult as the years go by!

Nah. Dump. Possibly 5* location and experience in summer,sun shing etc

[hamish]

Poppit Sands - I agree with Meic. A great hostel. As are the next few hostels going south around the coast. I hope the YHA keeps them going and I wish they were open more in the winter.

[meic]

Earlier I'd reviewed Poppit Sands and one other YH. I was 'corrected'(not quite the right terminology) here by Meic and perhaps one other. Sometimes I try to be as anodyne as possible(to defer criticism). This time I seem to have shot from the hip. I have reviewed others review of my own: perhaps I was cranky that day,saw it when I was freezing or some other excuse. I see others pics and note their moderated reviews. I can't challenge them. Looks fine,great really. Still,this time 'I do believe it was this hostel I looked into from outside' and...it was...at my time of viewing...unwelcoming. I shorthanded my review to a DUMP. Maybe they redone the place the next day or I have become a snob.I am getting more difficult as the years go by!

Nah. Dump. Possibly 5* location and experience in summer,sun shing etc

I was there in June 2013. Looking through the pictures, I did notice that they only photographed where the windows face the sea, if you are unlucky and get a room on the other side of the building you get to look at a cliff face a couple of metres away.
We had such a (2 man) room booked for us but the warden gave us a four man room with a view instead as the hostel was underbooked for that period.

Looking at this picture
http://www.yha.org.uk/sites/default/fil ... xt_014.jpg
I think that the "carpark" was next to the brown building and you had to walk down a narrow stepped footpath to the white hostel buildings.