please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Good Beer Guide 2019 Entry and winner of North Wales Pub of the Year 2016.
Doesn't look much from the outside - some Ansells Branding and a tranditional "old man's pub".
Inside is where the money has been spent - all soft wood furnishings and original tiling. Two roomed - with the a long bar in the bar room.
Knowledgeable and friendly staff.
Recommended.
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Having walked from Llanfairfechan to Conwy, this was the first pub we came to on reaching the town. Seeing something written outside about it being a CAMRA award winner, we decided to give it a try. Inside we found it very busy, and there was nowhere to sit, so we had to sit in the beer garden (really more of a yard at the back, but not unpleasant). The beers we had ('Sweet Lips' and 'Brenin') were okay but nothing special. (There wasn't anything wrong with either of them -- they were both just generically 'hoppy', which isn't my favourite beer taste.)
Despite not particularly enjoying the beer, and having to sit in the back yard, it seemed like a nice pub.
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Good ales and welcoming. Great little boozer in beautiful Conwy.
Muzzy - 31 Dec 2015 09:00 |
Great little ale house, wouldn't be out of place in a much bigger city. A lovely building, good beer drinking custom, and a superb beer range only slightly let down by average beer. Will revisit to see if that was a one-off.
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Great pub, it knocks spots off all the others in Conwy. I am going to be a regular visitor to this pub and great to see Di at the bar I haven't seen her for a long time and is lovely to see her so well
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Possibly one of the best pubs I have ever visited. I rehearse here the description to be found in the pub’s own literature: “Built within the walled town and World Heritage site of Conwy, the Albion is recognised as one of the finest examples of a 1920s public house in Britain. The building successfully combines a number of artistic styles including the art nouveau tiling in the main lobby, the art deco fireplace in the main lounge with a much larger example in the rear snug. There is an exquisite 1920s back bar in the main bar room with a rare hatch linking it to the rear snug. Of the ten hand-pulls on the bar today, four are originals from the 1920s. The lounge and snug retain the original fixed seating with push bells along the dado rail, used to summon bar tenders from a bygone era”.
Cask ales are £3.10 per pint – Friday’s offerings were Titanic’s Lifeboat, White Horse’s Giant, Village Idiot and Wayland Smithy, Purple Moose’s Snowdonia Ale, West Coast Brewing’s Riptide and Rwster from Nant brewery in LLanrwst. As soon as one runs dry, it is replaced by something completely different so I sampled various superb ales this weekend.
Ciders on offer included Gwynt y Ddraig’s Black Dragon and Haymaker and Thatchers Gold whereas the lagers included Freedom’s Four and Pilsner and Great Orme’s 1085.
The pub was always busy this weekend (and sometimes very busy) but the knowledgeable bar staff had it all under control and there was no lengthy waiting. There atmosphere at all times was friendly and there was nothing to dislike!
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This was a very welcome stop after a walk round the town walls on possibly the first warm day this year. Very friendly bar staff and customers and fantastic selection of local beers - I enjoyed all the ones I tried, but didn't have the full selection because I needed to get the bus back to Llandudno. A definite must for anyone visiting Conwy who likes real ale.
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what a change since i last went in 2010. now 9 cask beers on from the local breweries that owned the pub.the review now would rate 9 out of 10
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Being well received by locals and tourists alike.
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visited the Albion Ale House during a weeks holiday in Conwy. Great range of beers
avaiable including cider on hand pull and organic lager. We had our dog with us
who was made welcome as we were. Visited the Albion every night of our break and the place was busy each night. beautiful back bar and three comfortable and different bar areas. No piped music or machines. Good mix of locals and tourists.
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Reopening 3rd Feb 2012 after a major refurb. Camra heritage pub saved from ruin. Run by a joint venture of Conwy, Great Orme, Nant Conwy and Purple Moose breweries. Check out Albion Ale House on Facebook, or ThreeTownsForum for photos.
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Visited last night, still closed.
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This was a nice old fashioned pub, but we have just revisited Conwy to find it closed and boarded up.
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early afternoon went in only me in the brains sa was ok even in may in a warm day had a fire on a three room pub with afront and back room. a pool room to one side
a pub i last visted 30 years when my parents and they friends lived in conwy,which then was a dirty unclean pub a lot better now and cleaner apart from in gents toilets empty soap gel hand dryer did not worked and as i was the only one in it looked it as it been like that all day
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Nice warm open fires but thats about it. Very quiet pub with dull interiour.
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Wandered in not knowing this was a CAMRA NI pub- a rare treat for me as those are the ones i always research in order to visit! Seems I'm spared giving an in-depth analysis of the interior by Mr. Bonser's posting just a few days prior to this. Suffice to say I enjoyed the multiple rooms (games room, bar room and back 'family room' served by a hatch), unspoilt ambience and original fittings of this place. They are tempered a little by games machines and bandits, but I've never been averse to pool tables. Service polite and friendly and real fires in every room, although only the bar room one was lit. Nice tiling in the corridor too. The (definitely) uninspiring concrete garden at the back now has table football so anyone who likes that might find a bit of inspiration. Only Brains SA on my visit, it was OK though. I agree that real ale isn't a priority here. I too was confused by the name- only the 'Albion' in it remains consistent. The pub has lots of Wales-ana and declares itself 'Proudly Welsh'- perhaps to temper the perfidious name of the pub? I enjoyed this pub. It's slightly geared towards the circuit crowd and not a real-ale pub per se but fantastic architecturall, a definite mid-century feel. Pub-lovers visiting Conwy might want to prioritise it.
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This is a traditional unpretentious three-roomed street corner local situated centrally and within the ancient town walls of Conwy.
Its unspoilt interior earns it a listing in CAMRA's National Inventory of Unspoilt Interiors, a fact of which the pub is rightly proud as this fact is advertised on a board outside the pub which displays a number of photos of the interior rooms and proudly boasts itself as "Conwy's true heritage pub".
As you go in, there's a games room on the left with a vaulted ceiling, "smoke room" etched windows and a fine fireplace. For some unknown reason, above this fireplace are two rather evocative framed photographs of youngsters in the streets of Paddington in 1957. This room is rather dominated by a large snooker table that takes up much of the space. The room on the right, where the bar counter is, has an original bar back and an interesting old picture of the pub, looking noticeably smaller than it does now. Behind this room, down the tiled corridor, is a third room, also traditionally furnished, retaining old bell pushes and a serving hatch to the bar. A rather uninspiring concreted area at the back of the pub is under construction as a smoking area.
The pub is still badged as an Ansells pub, retaining old Ansells branded lamps and the squirrel logo externally.
On my recent early evening visit, 2 real ales were available - Brains SA and Courage Best. The Brains SA - � 2.50p - was reasonable. A further 2 handpumps were unbadged and I formed the view that real ale was probably not a big seller here. The pub was however listed in the 2009 GBG.
I'm curious as to what the actual name of this pub is. It's listed here on BITE ( and in the 2008 GBG ) as The Albion Vaults and the outside noticeboard also refers to this name. However the pub sign, showing a warship, bears the name "The Albion" as does the lettering on the external wall. To compound the confusion, the original CAMRA National Inventory Booklet ( published in 2003 ) refers to this pub as the Albion Hotel !
This pub ( whatever name you choose to give it ) appears to be predominantly a locals pub, but is not unwelcoming, and the pub noticeboard stresses that "everyone's welcome". It does however look a bit grubby and run down from the outside.
If you like old-fashioned, good honest unpretentious pubs, you should try and drop in if you get the chance.
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I'm very interested in "unspoilt" pubs which feature in CAMRA's National Inventory so was very disappointed when I arrived at the Albion's very grubby exterior with its closed doors. However, I came back later and found it open. Regretably there were no local ales available - only a warm served Brains Rev. James - just what I didn't need on a very hot day! Got the feeling that it could do with someone more appreciative running the place to make the most of its wonderful interior.
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They've put a pool table right in the middle of the great old lounge room in the back, ruining the decor of the room. Rest of the pub is great, though, with local ales on tap and an excellent area for smokers.
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Wonderful pub, full of original features, very interesting. Best Stella Artois for miles, has CAMRA award for being one of the very few pubs in Wales to retain original features. Well worth visiting especially for anyone who likes to drink in a real old-fashioned pub not one that's had the original fittings taken out and replaced by replicas from B&Q.
Original mahogany gantree and counter, beams, three separate rooms with different characteristics. Very much a local's pub where 'everyone knows your name' but welcomes visitors. Customers are nice and friendly. Incidentaly, my husband is one of the 'old guys' who play dominoes - he's 52 and has drank in the Albion since he was too young to be served.
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A pub frozen in time. Old guys playing dominos, sheep dogs on the wooden floor in front while elderly ladies enjoy the formal lounge in the back. Very much a locals place but stick your nose in for a look at the decor.
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