Nant Gwynant, below Pen-y-Pass · Inn
The historic climbers' inn at the junction below Pen-y-Pass, used as a training base by the 1953 Everest team and largely unchanged since.
Pen-y-Gwryd stands alone at the road junction where the Llanberis Pass meets Nant Gwynant, surrounded by mountain on every side. It is one of the most significant buildings in British mountaineering: the 1953 Everest expedition trained here, and the team's signatures are still on the ceiling of the Everest Room. That history is not a marketing veneer — the hotel has deliberately resisted modernisation, and the effect is closer to a well-loved club than a hotel.
Rooms are simple. Several share bathrooms, there are no televisions, and mobile signal is effectively absent. What you get instead is thick stone walls, mountain views from most windows, and a genuine quiet after dark. A few rooms have been upgraded with en suite facilities; specify what you need at the time of booking rather than assuming.
Dinner is served at a fixed hour, announced by a gong, as a set menu of straightforward, generous cooking — soup, a roast or a pie, a pudding. Breakfast is equally substantial. The bar is hung with ropes, ice axes and expedition photographs, and there is a sauna and a natural pool outside for those who want one after a day on the Glyderau.
This is a hotel for walkers, climbers and anyone who values atmosphere over amenity. Pen-y-Pass is five minutes up the road, the Pyg and Miners' Tracks start there, and the Glyders and Tryfan are immediately to the north. Families with small children and anyone wanting a spa weekend should look elsewhere. It closes for parts of the winter, so check dates before travelling.