The location of the hotel is terrible, far from Abeystwyth and any other town, and right by the side of th road. Upon arrival at the hotel we were greated in a most unpleasant manner and told that our reservation was not for that day, as we were sure it was (later they checked and we were right). We were shown to our rooms which were damp, smelly and worn-down. The bathrooms were visibly unclean, full of mildew and grime. We inspected the public areas which were anything but cozy and clean, not to mention the kitchen. We decided to lose our full nights deposit and leave the hotel that same afternoon. We found a lovely hotel on the road along the coast, south of Aberystwyth.

On arrival at Dyffryn Castell Hotel I was slightly
underwhelmed by the exterior of the building, maybe after seeing the photographs on the internet I expected more, the thoughts in my head were thinking "Have I made a mistake?" "could I have found somewhere nicer had I not booked already?". "Anyway" I thought, "best go inside and see what this place is like". Upon entering the Hotel I was greeted with a warm friendly smile and a very cheerful "hellooooo there". I was escorted into the bar area, which with it's dark wood panel walls and "traditional" look was very cosy indeed. The next room was the games room which contained pool tables, a dart board, and a juke box. I found this room to be quite "tatty" and it had a strange smell. It was now time to see the room, my anticipation grew as i climbed the
staircase which lead to the room. As the door was opened for me I was pleasantly suprised, the room was very homely and felt immediately at ease.
I turned on the television and made a cup of tea from the complimentary selection of hot drinks which were placed on the side table. After a brief sleep I began to feel quite peckish so I decided to venture downstairs to check out the dinner menu. I settled for "Chicken Pate'" for starters, which was delicious. For the main course I had "Lasagne"
which was equally as pleasing as the starter. A few drinks later it was time to "Hit the sack".
It is now morning and I look out of my window, if I ignore the empty beer crates and rubbish directly under my window I can see sheep grazing on the hillside. I feel the need for food so I go down to the breakfast room, it's very light and airy, I have some cereals and some fresh orange juice to start me off, then along comes the toast with a friendly "moornin, will it be the full cooked breakfast and will it be tea, coffee or both?". I must mention that the bacon is absolutely amazing! Only problem with the breakfast was that the individual jam's that come with the toast were out of date by a good 5 months.
To sum up I would say that the food is great, the service is great, and the room was great. The few problems that I encountered were all minor and overshadowed by the good points, so all in all i'd have to recommend this place as a nice place to stay for a night or two but if you look around this part of Wales you can find prettier hotels at a similar price.