White Lion Royal Hotel and nearby sports venues in Bala, Wales

Located in the centre of town, (renovated june 05) this 4 STAR WTB and AA INN offers comfortable rooms and great breakfasts. It is convenient for all the recreational amenities (leisure centre, swimming pool) and outdoor activities (wind surfing, white water rafting, golf, rambling) offered in Bala. It is just a five minute walk from Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake), or a thirty minute drive to the coast. All rooms are en-suite and have DVD TVs plus tea and coffee facilities.This is the best known of all the hotels and inns in Bala, with its central and prominent position on the main street. Its origins as a hotel are unknown but the tablet above the front door proclaims that the present building (with some alterations) has been there since 1759.George Borrow (famous Welsh writer 1803-1881) stayed during his travels through the area and penned his famous book entitled Wild Wales. It is no wonder that he returned here when we read his account of the breakfast that was served to him:What a breakfast! Pot of hare ditto of trout pot of prepared shrimps dish of plain shrimps tin of sardines beautiful beefstake eggs muffin large loaf, and butter, not forgetting capital tea. Queen Victoria came to Bala in 1889 and during her stay at the Robertsons country seat at Pale, Llandderfel, a few miles east of the town she purchased goods in three shops, and as a result they were granted permission to call themselves Purveyors by Royal Warrant. The main bar is a popular haunt of locals and tourists and hosts occasional traditional music performances. The snug BAR is one of the smallest bars in Wales dating from the hotels days as a posting house and is also popular with locals. The structure of the building is similar to that as described by George Borrow.