Richmond Hotel, Aberystwyth

I stayed at the Richmond in Aberystwyth in April 2012. It was my boyfriend’s university town and I had visited and liked it. It was also where he proposed to me (not the hotel, but at the hill at the top of the Cliff Railway, review to follow). I said yes!

We booked a double room on the website which was £85 per night for 2 nights and included breakfast. We chose the Richmond because it seemed like a decent, solid 3 star hotels with good reviews on Trip Advisor. It was also on the sea front and we requested a sea view. The other bonus was free car parking around the back of the building.

The hotel is quite easy to find, Aber is not a big place but has a one way traffic system in parts. Check in is from 2pm and we arrived around that time. The car park was already busy but our little classic Mini fitted into a space easily. If the car park is full there are many streets around the hotel so you should be able to park.

From the rear of the hotel you access it via a few steps-customers with disabilities beware-there are no lifts inside the hotel either. My first feeling was that the hotel had a lovely fresh smell; it was not stale or musty like some places. The outside is not very glamorous, just a white and blue exterior. Inside it feels like a typical seaside resort hotel. The lady on reception was very pleasant and friendly and checked us in no problem. She also asked us if we wanted any help with our bags. We didn’t but it was polite to offer-not that I expected anybody except me to carry my own bags up the stairs! For older or frail people this was a nice offer but I would not want a hotel staff member to carry my bags if I could manage myself.

Our room was number 11 I think. Up the 2 flights of stairs. It was a big square room with a nice fresh smell and a double bed. There was a flat screen television and 2 chairs and a little table in front of the window that overlooked the sea and the prom. This was a lovely place to sit with a cuppa watching the world go by. The kettle along with the PG Tips, Nescafe coffee and hot chocolate was very welcome. There were also a packet of biscuits and a bottle of water that were replenished daily.There’s not much else to say about the room. There was a hair dryer and it was neat and tidy.

The bathroom was very clean with plenty of towels and shower gel, shampoo and body lotion. The shower was amazing, very warm and powerful! The free Wi-Fi was an added bonus too and we got the password from reception and were online straight away.

We didn’t have an evening meal in the hotel but we did have breakfast. Breakfast is served in the basement. The waitress was very smiley and the food was served quickly and was really good. There are a selection of fruits and cereals to start with and yogurts. The hot food is excellent-bacon, beans, eggs, fried bread, tomatoes, mushrooms, hash browns and sausages and as much toast as you want. I had a full fry up one day and poached eggs the next.

We both enjoyed our stay at the Richmond and would happily stay here again. It’s quite old fashioned and homely but I prefer this to the modern concrete chain hotels. Every member of staff we encountered was helpful and seemed happy to work at the Richmond. The other guests were mostly older couples and we were not disturbed by noise at night. I always mean to take photos where I go but I forget to take any apart from a couple!