| The Hotel Portmeirion | |
|---|---|
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| General information | |
| Coordinates | 52°54′44″N4°05′57″W / 52.91211°N 4.09929°W |
| Completed | circa 1850 |
| Renovated | 1926, 1988 |
The Hotel Portmeirion or sometimes Portmeirion Hotel (Welsh: Gwesty Portmeirion) is a hotel and restaurant in the village of Portmeirion, in Gwynedd, northwest Wales. The Hotel and many associated buildings and structures are Grade II listed buildings. [1]
The hotel was originally a mansion called Aber Iâ and was built circa 1850. [1] Architect Clough Williams-Ellis bought the Aber Iâ estate in 1925 as the location for his project to build an eccentric, eclectic village, which he accomplished between 1925 and 1975. [2] Williams-Ellis needed to fund his project, he achieved this by developing the Aber Iâ villa as a luxury hotel, using other buildings in his village as restaurants or cottages to rent. [3] The restored mansion was opened as a hotel in 1926, with the addition of a three-storey west wing. A dining room extension was added in 1930. [1]
A terrace on the seafront was also built in 1926. In 1930 Williams-Ellis added a loggia ("Casino") as well as a recreation in concrete of a Breton boat, the Amis Reunis. [4]
The hotel as well as the other village buildings became Grade II listed in 1971. [1]
The hotel was gutted by fire in 1981 and re-opened in 1988 after being restored. [1] An 18th-century staircase that had been incorporated in the original house was destroyed, as well as carved panels in the library, and the hotel bar which had been made from timbers from Britain's last active man-of-war ship, the HMS Arethusa. [5]
In 2016 £1.5 million was spent installing a biomass heating system for the hotel and guest accommodation, which would save the hotel an estimated £100,000 a year on the fuel bills once it had recouped its costs. [6]
According to a review by The Telegraph, the hotel itself has 14 rooms ("traditional") with an additional 32 ("cosy but quirky") in the nearby village. The reviewer scored the hotel between 8 and 9 out of 10. [7]
In a 2016 review of the hotel restaurant, The Guardian compared the hotel as "equally lovely, and equally oddball" as the surrounding village, though was less complimentary about the food, saying it was "sad evidence of what happens when creativity is taken just that little bit too far". [8]
Gwynedd is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The city of Bangor is the largest settlement, and the administrative centre is Caernarfon. The preserved county of Gwynedd, which is used for ceremonial purposes, includes the Isle of Anglesey.
Portmeirion is a folly tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the Baroque style and is now owned by a charitable trust. The village is located in the community of Penrhyndeudraeth, on the estuary of the River Dwyryd, 2 miles (3.2 km) south east of Porthmadog, and 1 mile (1.6 km) from Minffordd railway station. Portmeirion has served as the location for numerous films and television shows, most famously as "The Village" in the 1960s television show The Prisoner.
Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, CBE, MC was a Welsh architect known chiefly as the creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales. He became a major figure in the development of Welsh architecture in the first half of the 20th century, in a variety of styles and building types.
The Wrest Point Hotel Casino is a casino in Tasmania. It was Australia's first legal casino, opening in the suburb of Sandy Bay in Hobart, on 10 February 1973.
Llanystumdwy is a predominantly Welsh-speaking village, community and electoral ward on the Llŷn Peninsula in Wales. It lies in the traditional county of Caernarfonshire but is currently administered as part of the unitary authority of Gwynedd. It is not regarded as being part of Llŷn, but as belonging instead to the ancient commote of Eifionydd on the Cardigan Bay coast, where it has its own beach. The community includes the villages of Chwilog, Afon Wen, Llanarmon, and Llangybi, plus the hamlets of Rhoslan and Pencaenewydd.
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, synthesising these with picturesque aesthetics. The style of architecture that was thus created, though also characterised as "Neo-Renaissance", was essentially of its own time. "The backward look transforms its object," Siegfried Giedion wrote of historicist architectural styles; "every spectator at every period—at every moment, indeed—inevitably transforms the past according to his own nature."
Llangoed Hall is a country house hotel, near the village of Llyswen, in Powys, Mid Wales. It is known for its decoration in Laura Ashley fabrics and styles, and was owned by Sir Bernard Ashley, the widower of the designer. It is a Grade II* listed building, and its gardens and park are listed at Grade II on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.
Minffordd is a village within the Welsh county of Gwynedd. It is situated on the A487 road between Porthmadog and Penrhyndeudraeth, and in the community of the latter.
Chwilog is a village in Eifionydd on the Llŷn Peninsula in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. It forms part of the community of Llanystumdwy. The name means 'abounding in beetles' and was perhaps transferred from an earlier name of the river.
Plas Brondanw in Garreg, Llanfrothen, Gwynedd, North Wales, was the family home of Clough Williams-Ellis, creator of the Italianate village Portmeirion, and elements of similar architectural styles can be seen at both locations. It is a grade II* listed building. The gardens, in a series of garden rooms enclosed by yew hedges and open lawns, linked by carefully planned vistas, is one of only three Grade I listed gardens in Gwynedd.
Parc is the name of an ancient mansion found near the village of Croesor in the community of Llanfrothen near Penrhyndeudraeth, in Gwynedd, Wales. The former mansion has been in ruins since the end of the 17th century when the resident Anwyl Family moved to Llugwy. Thomas Nicholas described the site in his Annals and Antiquities of the Counties and County Families of Wales [see box].
Sir Hugh John Ellis-Nanney, 1st Baronet, was a Welsh landowner, magistrate and political candidate.
Festival N°6 is an annual art and music festival held in and around Portmeirion, Wales. The festival presents a wide range of music genres across multiple stages. It is advertised as a family-friendly festival, and as such various areas of the festival are targeted to families, such as "No.6's Mischief Meadow" for children and a designated family camping area. In 2013 one of the organizers stated that due to the size of the village the festival was not likely to grow beyond 10,000 attendees across the weekend.
Nannau is a Georgian mansion and estate near the village of Llanfachreth, Gwynedd, North Wales, UK. The mansion was initially inhabited by the Welsh Nanney (Nannau) family, who were direct descendants of the Kings of Powys. For over 900 years, the Nannau estate was in possession of the same family.
David Williams-Ellis is a British sculptor whose primary subject matter is the human figure.
Castell Deudraeth is a former manor house approximately 0.5 km NE of Portmeirion in Gwynedd, North Wales.
Portmeirion Town Hall, also known as the Hercules Hall, is a building in Portmeirion, Gwynedd, Wales. Being in a private village without a government, the building is used as an events venue. It is a Grade I listed building.
The Campanile or Bell Tower is a prominent structure in the village of Portmeirion, in Gwynedd, northwest Wales. Portmeirion was created as an Italianate village by the architect, Clough Williams-Ellis, who bought the Aber Iâ mansion and its estate in 1925 as the location for his project, building his eccentric, eclectic village between 1925 and 1975. The Campanile is a Grade II* listed building.
Media related to The Hotel (Portmeirion) at Wikimedia Commons