The Snowdon, Llandudno

Situated in a relatively quiet residential side street near the tramway terminus at the foot of Llandudno’s Great Orme is The Snowdon Hotel, reputed to be one of the oldest pubs in Llandudno. Externally, it resembles two private houses joined together, which, as the pub’s website confirms, is precisely what it is, although, once inside, it all joins together rather seamlessly. A small bar counter on the right hand side of the main bar serves a large main bar area in front and a much smaller public bar immediately behind. The main bar is comfortable and carpeted and is dominated by a number of polished leather button back sofas, the quantity and arrangement of which initially immediately struck me as resembling the layout of a DFS store. Pleasingly, there’s some more conventional, but modern, seating around the perimeter of the room. In one corner, close to the bar, are some framed E L O signed photos and, over a fireplace, an impressive large Snowdon frosted mirror. On the right hand side, effectively behind the bar servery, is a small basic public bar room with a dartboard, but rather marred by a series of prominent pink fairy lights that really did look desperately out of place There’s a pleasant seating area outside at the front which affords good views of the slopes of The Great Orme, and not Mount Snowdon. Despite the name, I didn’t see anything to indicate that accommodation was available, nor did I see any mention of food, other than filled rolls. The pub is listed in the CAMRA 2016 Good Beer Guide and the sticker is prominently displayed, Beers on were Bass ( which I gather is a regular fixture ) , Thwaites Wainwright and 2 beers from Theakstons ( Best, Infallible ). Tasting notes are provided for the beers with, rather discouragingly, Bass being additionally described as “our finest ale”. Quality was good, but it would have been nice to have seen a Welsh real ale being offered, not just a Great Orme keg craft beer. Bar towels advertise “ Stange & Co “ – a small privately owned company that, according to their website, own about half a dozen pubs in this corner of Wales It’s a bit of an odd one this. With sofas dominating the main bar area and dreadful flashing fairy lights in both bars, it’s clearly trying to attract a youngish clientele, but, based on my visit, it doesn’t appear to be working, with a more mature customer base being clearly evident. The most memorable aspect of my visit was that it was here, on a large drop down screen, where I saw the final moments of Japan’s historic 34-32 Rugby World Cup win over the Saffers in a match that had attracted negligible interest from those customers present until those final few minutes. Taking everything into account, I thought this was a decidedly average place.

Official site of Snowdon Hotel - www.the-snowdonhotel.co.uk

Official site of Snowdon Hotel - www.the-snowdonhotel.co.uk

called back this week like i said i would it was a better experience this time stayed for a couple called in a couple of time this week while we were staying near by

Called in one night it looked ok but a yank with a big mouth talking bull shit at the bar put us off going again when we found out he was staying there. But will call back next time we are over there