185 reviewsfrom verified guests
Make the Royal Sportsman Hotel part of your Gwynedd travel. This historic Porthmadog hotel was constructed in 1862 as a staging post for coaches on the turnpike road to Porthdinllaen. It was built using local Blaenau Ffestiniog slate, which is still visible on the exterior of the hotel; the original stone and slate fireplaces can be seen in the bar and the lounge. Today the Royal Sportsman Hotel (Gwesty'r Heliwr in Welsh) is considered the best place to stay in Porthmadog, with a quality 3 star rating from both the AA and Visit Wales. The hotel has also been awarded 2 AA Rosettes for its fresh, modern cuisine; the restaurant, Peppino’s, is listed in the 2011 edition of The Good Food Guide. Peppino’s is Porthmadog’s only dining room, open daily for breakfast and evening meals, with a traditional Sunday lunch. You can also relax with tea and shortbread in Lorenzo's Lounge; its specialty is a Welsh Cream Tea. Gelert's Bar is a free house popular with locals, serving extra-cold lagers, keg bitters, and Purple Moose cask ales brewed in Porthmadog. The Royal Sportsman Hotel is located at the quieter end of Porthmadog’s High Street (Stryd Fawr in Welsh), near the intersection of the main A487 and A497 roads. Within walking distance is the local tourist information center, where the staff can point you toward the Picture Postcard Walk. A short walk farther is the terminal for the Ffestiniog Railway, a narrow-gauge heritage railway. Rides take you along the Cob (the embankment across the Glaslyn estuary) for 1 mile and then through the mountains of Snowdonia to Blaenau Ffestiniog. Porthmadog is often used as a base for exploring Snowdonia National Park.
