There has been a building on the site of the present-day hotel since medieval times but well documented is the existence of a Tudor Manor House parts of which are still in use today. The old hall with its heavily oak-beamed ceiling and slate floor is atmospheric and fascinating. On your way to browse or relax in front of the log fires kept burning there notice the slot in the wall where the timber for the ancient door closure was once fixed.

As the centuries passed by the building was owned by various gentry and was the focus of the huge estate of Dolmelynllyn where activities ranged from experimental farming to gold mining. The site of the gold mine is very impressive and well worth a visit during your stay.

Today the hotel has around three acres of gardens, part landscaped formal gardens, part wooded hillside and part vegetable gardens. Beyond the grounds are 1200 acres of meadow, mountain and forest owned and managed by the National Trust.

Much of the building you see today was the result of a programme of enlargement carried out during the early Victorian period when it was owned by William Maddocks - MP and entrepreneur. Maddocks was responsible for the considerable engineering achievement of the Cob at Porthmadoc. During this period the estate was in its heyday. The gold mine was productive, the farm active and the many cottages occupied by estate workers, maidservants, gamekeepers and footmen. Visitors included the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley during his brief sojourn in Wales and the breakfast restaurant is named after him. Later in the century the Gothic wing was added and the beautiful stained glass windows and Arts & Crafts oak-panelling of the residents lounge  introduced.

E-mail: info@Dolly-hotel.co.uk