Well May just flew by and we had a lovely month welcoming regulars back  and meeting new guests, including pirates travelling from Yorkshire and the North East to meet up with their private brethren in Conwy.

They came for the first pirate festival since 2019, which was over the weekend of the 13th and 14th May and don’t they look amazing!

The attention to detail in their costumes was so impressive and imaginative and Henrique had a great time taking their photos.

We’re already looking forward to pirate weekend 2023 and welcoming them all  back . We reckon they were the best dressed pirates by faaargh !

This weekend has been our first Easter open since we had to close in  March 2020 and then again at the end of 2020 into spring 2021. It’s been so great  to have the house full again, to welcome back returning guests who we have missed seeing, and meet  new guests : a lovely couple  from Lampeter in South West Wales, and a fabulous  family group from London.

The weather has been kind on the whole and Conwy town has been full of visitors. Our guests have dined out at Lava, a stone’s throw from Castlebank, the Erskine Arms , just off the town square , Watson’s Bistro and the Midland Street Food Tapas .  Some of them have sampled Penderyn whisky in our bar, which is made in nearby Llandudno . They’ve climbed Mount Snowdon , visited the beautiful island of Anglesey and walked the castle walls.

On Saturday afternoon, after a quick  essential shopping trip, I took our daughter for an ice cream from Sue’s Beach Hut in Deganwy . The weather was perfect and we basked in the sun, as we watched a boat chugging down the estuary, a young family also enjoying their ice creams and a cheeky labrador queuing at the beach hut for treats from Sue.It was a very peaceful stop off and welcome time out together.

Deganwy is a flat walk  across the bridge from Conwy and has  stunning views back  across the water  to Conwy Castle , over to  Anglesey , and up to the Great Orme , where you will find not only amazing panoramic views from the summit  but a copper mine dating 4,000 years back to the Bronze Age. A further walk through the dunes  from Deganwy brings you to  beautiful West Shore beach.

Mount Snowdon Summit

Last weekend we had the absolute pleasure of meeting 9 year old Betsy, when she came to stay with her dad in our family room number 9 at the top of the house.

While they were here Betsy visited Pili Palas on the beautiful isle of  Anglesey , which has a butterfly house and  a bird house, a meerkat tunnel, farmyard, pets corner, tropical hide and more !

Then it was back over the Menai Strait and off to Colwyn Bay and Porth Eirias where she collected over 160 unicorn shells  for her collection.They  are just one of a large  variety of shells to be found on this popular sandy beach.

Betsy’s day was completed with a curry  at Saffron, one of our very popular  Indian restaurants in Conwy town,a drink( non alcoholic !!)  and a lovely chat in our bar with her dad , where she told us all about her day and showed us her new toy owls.
On Sunday morning after a full cooked  breakfast for dad and cornflakes, followed by poached eggs for Betsy, they made a quick trip to our fantastic toy shop, Yesteryears, on Conwy High St before heading back home.

We can’t wait to welcome Betsy back again, she really made our weekend !

The lighthouse on  Ynys Llanddwyn  off Newborough Beach one of our favourite places on  Anglesey