If you haven’t heard of Portmeirion, you will have seen photos all over Instagram. Built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975, the architecture nods to Italian and Greek styles. The village was famously used as the set in the 1960s cult tv show, The Prisoner so the crowd is a mix of bloggers looking for instagramable backdrops and fans of the 60s show on a pilgrimage.
I naively thought the word Portmeirion village meant it was still an actual village, with a community and independent business, oh boy was I wrong. Upon arrival, I quickly realised the word village is a lie and it is a holiday resort. Realising this did leave me feeling a bit disappointed, knowing it wasn’t a “real” place took away some of the excitement for me. I am sure you aren’t as naive as me, and you’ll be just as excited to explore the village.
When you first approach Portmeriron you’ll see The Castle hotel or Castell Deudraeth, which is where I stayed. The exterior is a beautiful gothic castle building and inside the rooms are really modern and finished to a high standard, our double bedroom was honestly the biggest bedroom I’ve ever stayed in with a separate lounge and kitchenette.
Once you make it down to the main village you can stay in many of the iconic Portmeirion buildings that are self-catering accommodations. These rooms feel so special and are decorated full of antique furniture (see photo two above).
If you want to live a full life of luxury you can stay in the main Portmeriron hotel which is situated on the waterfront.
As someone who goes on holiday to try amazing food, I was initially disappointed by the food, once I realised that it’s a resort meaning all the ‘on-site’ cafes were more like canteen food, it wasn’t looking good. Throughout the village, there are a few ‘cafe’s and ice cream parlours for lunches.
However not all is lost, the breakfasts at both hotels (Castell Deudraeth and The Hotel Portmeirion) are amazing, full of local high-quality produce and lots of choices, hello eggs royale.
On our first night, we had dinner at the castle hotel which was beautiful, I had low expectations to be honest but it blew me away. I had the sea-bass and it was so tasty and well cooked, with lots of tomatoes and laverbread. This trio of desserts was the real star of the show including lemon and white chocolate tart, a chocolate and whisky profiterole. For classic British dinning well done, this place knows what they are doing.
So let’s get on to the main reason you are reading this blog post, exploring the main village and whether is it as beautiful as it looks online. In short, yes! It really is as beautiful as it looks online. Walking around I felt like Alice in wonderland, no matter how many times you explore you will spot new hidden details. Every little corner is just breathtaking.
So would I recommend visiting? I think it depends on what you look for on holiday but yes! If you aren’t staying it costs a staggering £17.50 to visit for the day which is insane, considering you can see it all in around half an hour. However I think staying over night in one of the hotels and getting to walk around in the evening (day visitors leave by 5pm) is magical. Another good way to visit is via the dine and visit offers at the castel hotel restaurant with 2 course lunches or Sunday roasts you get your entry to the village included. Find out everything you need to know about the resort here. Pt. two of my North Wales adventure is coming next week as we head to Snowdonia.
