what a day it was – a fabulous celebration of all things Welsh and Patagonian!

The community came together to support our joint venture with Ysgol Bro Gwydir’s Dance and Clog Team’s fundraising event called -The BespOAK Clog.

The team who have been invited to perform and teach dance skills to the local community and schools in Patagonia, were not only raising funds to support their trip but also wanted to showcase a slice of Welsh culture ahead of the National Eisteddfod, which takes place in Llanrwst, in the first week of August.

Ok so the weather turned a little drizzly in the afternoon and we had to decamp from the terrace into the drier atmosphere of Y Stable’s stage area. But the Gaucho Grill Chefs continued on under their smoky canopy dishing up authentic style asada cooking!

A fantastic response from visitors and locals alike to seeing an extravaganza of traditional dance and folk music. The dance teams even had a box of spare clogs available for anyone who wanted to have a go and join in!

The day raised just under £400 for the school fund and that was matched by a very benevolent donation a day later which doubled the total! We’re really looking forwards to seeing and hearing about the Team’s experiences in Patagonia – if you’d like to help them on their way you can donate via Just Giving ; Clocswyr Y Bont

Some of our Standard rooms have recently had a makeover and during our search for Welsh influenced design we came across the wonderful work of Cefyn Burgess.

Born and raised in the slate quarry village of Bethesda, Cefyn graduated from Manchester with a BA (hons) in woven textiles. He then went on to gain an MA in textiles at the Royal College of Art.

Leaving London in the late 1980’s he became the first weaver in residence at Paradise Mill Silk Museum in Macclesfield, giving him the opportunity to develop his original range of fine hand woven silk fabrics. Since then he has been designing jacquard woven fabrics and quality interior products including his range of Welsh tapestry blankets, quilts, throws and cushions.

He currently works from his studio shop at Ruthin Craft Centre which is where our interior designer stumbled upon his work almost by accident on a day out. Cefyn’s work mesmerised her with it’s connection to both the landscape and it’s earthy natural tones and she immediately went about incorporating his work into the new room design.

You can find Cefyn’s work at his Studio in Ruthin, in Storiel Bangor or Plas Glyn y Weddw in Llanbedrog. With such strong links to the community he grew up in his work is sure to become a firm favourite of ours and of yours.

To book one of our newly refurbished standard rooms give our reservations team a call on 01690 710 219.

A lake in the forest, nestled 200m above Betws-Y-Coed, Llyn Elsi is one of the walks you can embark on straight from our front door (no vehicle access required for this one and kudos for reducing your carbon footprint!)

Llyn Elsi was once two lakes, however in 1914 Lord Ancaster allowed the building of the damn merging the lakes into a reservoir supplying Betws-Y-Coed with drinking water.  From start to finish back to the hotel the walk takes about 2 and a half hours – although I ambled around the lake taking in the Autumn reflections so was a little over schedule! Continue reading “Holly went walking”