The Heights — Restaurant in Great Britain

I booked The Heights Bunkhouse based on the photos of the restaurant and food and the photos of the dorms looked fine, we only wanted basic accomodation for one night so it looked fine. For £32 a night I figured it must be.|I would say they have a fantastic photographer, it looks nothing like the photos at all.||After booking I was emailed to say they do not provide bedding, pillows or towels. Apparently it says so on the booking website which I found eventually but it was very hidden information which I think should be much more clearly stated before booking.|I asked to cancel but was told absolutely no refunds whatsoever. I soon came to realise why they do not do refunds once we arrived, I think they would have nobody stay.||On arrival we were shown to our room up some very filthy stairs with a pungent smell I still can’t pin point. We could not believe what room we were being asked to sleep in, prison cells would be an exceptional upgrade.||The bed sheets were dirty, the springs in the mattresses were all broken, one mattress was completely split down the side which exposed the springs inside, the floor was disgustingly filthy with bits dirt everywhere so clearly had not been hoovered in months if not more, in fact the whole room would not have been cleaned, it just couldn’t have been, the shower was riddled in mould and had black loose dirt all over the shower tray which we had to clean out before having a shower.|The toilet leaked from the waste pipe to the floor, the toilet seat wouldn’t stay up so had to be held up or if you sat down it would lean against your back, the sink was full of mould and there was a sticker from a previous customers clothing stuck to the wall next to the broken towel rail, just shocking. More shocking than the lack of bedding was the lack of a curtain or blind on the windows! As soon as the sun came up the room was lit up.||As a group of blokes we didn’t need anything fancy, but the one thing you’d expect is for it to be clean. I’ve stayed in some low end accomodation in the past but nothing came close to this.|We knew we wouldn’t get a refund so looked to get different accomodation but we couldn’t find anywhere at late notice so we stayed. We contemplated sleeping in the car but we were shattered after a 24hr event and decided to suck it up and just get our heads down and leave as quick as possible in the morning.|I wouldn’t let my dog sleep in that room.||The nail in the coffin was that we stayed in a hotel the evening before which cost £50, it was high end and modern, the room came with nice bedding, TV, WIFI, en-suite, complimentary shower robe, towels, hand towels, slippers with unlimited free filtered coffee, and an array of teas. For £18 more!? I would say this accomodation is better...

I was booked into The Heights Bunkhouse for five nights with two friends. Two of us, both men, were staying in a ten-bunk dormitory, whilst the third member of our party, a woman, was booked into a two-bunk ladies' dormitory.

I include the following paragraph as a warning to any women who might be travelling on their own. Obviously, there is no zero-risk scenario, but The Heights failed to practise one of the most basic principles of ensuring women's safety and it absolutely needs to be addressed.

When we met up in the morning after our first night, our friend informed us that her bunkmate in the two-bunk ladies' dormitory had been a man. They had placed a man in the ladies' dormitory. Now thankfully, the guy in question was a very considerate and respectful young man, who was somewhat embarassed by the situation and was kind and very well-behaved towards our friend. But the question begs asking : what sort of establishment places men in a women's dormitory? Have they no regard for safety? The room was placed on the upper floor, at the end of a corridor, relatively far from the other rooms (and thus from any potential witnesses). We were fortunate in that the man in question happened to behave like a perfect gentleman. But I shudder to think what could have happened had another, less respectful guy been assigned to the room.

We also found the place to be very poor. It was dirty, the (basic) dinner was burned, the Wifi didn't work and the standard of accomodation was spartan even for a bunkhouse. Several of our bunkmates in the male dormitory were also very inconsiderate and very drunk. We barely slept a wink. As a result, despite our five-night booking, we ended up leaving and finding accomodation elsewhere in the village. Given the reactions from the locals each time we mentioned The Heights, the place clearly has a bad reputation.

We weren't expecting any kind of luxury, but at the very minimum I expect somewhere I'm staying to be clean, at least somewhat restful and to feel safe. Unfortunately, from our experience, The Heights lived up to none of these...

Extremely Disappointed After a Great First Visit

We had a wonderful experience during our first visit to The Heights in Caernarfon on 19 June 2025. The food was tasty, the beer garden had beautiful lake views, and the staff were friendly and accommodating. It was such a positive visit that we looked forward to returning for lunch on 22 June.

Unfortunately, this second visit was a complete let-down. The server got both of our food orders wrong. We asked for the soup of the day and were told it was mushroom. Instead, we were given tomato soup, which my son is mildly allergic to. The server refunded the soup, but he did not even apologised.

However, the second issue was not resolved as professionally. We ordered a hotdog and chips but were served chicken nuggets and chips. When we raised this, the staff member at the till, who called himself “Tom”, refused to correct the mistake and insisted this is what we had ordered. His manner was unhelpful and dismissive.

To make matters worse, he continued speaking in Welsh to a colleague throughout the discussion, which felt inappropriate and exclusionary, especially as we were trying to resolve a problem. I work in the NHS, and I would never speak in another language in front of patients in such a context, it is about basic respect and professionalism.

As we left, he laughed and repeated that we had ordered chicken nuggets. We later called the pub and spoke to a manager (possibly named Sonia), who told us that no one named Tom works there. This raises a serious question why did he even give a fake name?

I urge the management to review the CCTV footage from 12:01 to 12:03 pm on 22 June 2025 to clarify what happened.

I am looking forward to hearing the manager’s explanation through this platform. What should have been a pleasant return to a place we liked ended with frustration and disappointment....