Miss Mostyn on where to stay in Llandudno, from seafront hotels to guest houses with secrets in the wallpaper.
Llandudno has accommodation in all the usual forms: seafront hotels, guest houses, B&Bs, apartments and self-catering places where one may discover exactly how much noise a family can make before breakfast.
The town has a substantial accommodation stock for its size, which reflects its purpose as a traditional resort destination. Somewhere around two hundred establishments operate in and around the town, ranging from large seafront hotels of Victorian provenance to compact modern apartments aimed at the short-break market.
The North Shore is for the classic resort experience. You have the promenade, the pier, the hotels and the pleasing sense that one is participating in a tradition, even if the carpet pattern suggests several traditions at once.
The largest hotels along the promenade (including St George’s, the Imperial and the Empire, among others) offer sea-facing rooms with the full bay view from breakfast onwards. The difference in price between a sea view room and an inland room is the cost of watching the weather develop before it reaches you.
Craig y Don is quieter and useful for Venue Cymru. It suits those who like the seafront but do not require the full central performance every time they step outside with a coat.
West Shore is more residential, more spacious and better for sunsets. It is where one stays when one wants air, quiet and fewer people asking where the amusements are.
The streets behind the promenade contain many of the guest houses and B&Bs, in Victorian and Edwardian terraces that were built for exactly this purpose. Some have been maintained with care. Others have been maintained with optimism. The difference is usually apparent within three minutes of arrival, which is too late for most people to do anything sensible about it.
Do not be seduced by a sea view alone. Some rooms with fine views have seen more disappointment than a third marriage. Check parking, stairs, heating, bathrooms and recent reviews.
For a country-house experience rather than a resort one, Bodysgallen Hall a mile outside the town centre offers the Grade I hotel with gardens and fine dining that Llandudno’s promenade cannot supply. It is more expensive and considerably quieter. Whether that is an advantage depends entirely on who you have brought.
Llandudno has some excellent places to stay, and some trading on memories older than the plumbing. Choose carefully. Charm is not an excuse for mildew.