Snowdonia Park Motel, Nr Bethesda 1965

This authentic 1960s colour photograph, captured in 1965, documents the entrance and reception area of the Snowdonia Park Motel near Bethesda, Gwynedd. The archival image showcases the primary facilities of the site, which opened that year as the very first motel establishment within the boundaries of Snowdonia National Park. The foreground features the main reception and dining building, constructed from local stone with large picture windows and a traditional slate roof. Extending into the background is the long, single-storey wing of guest accommodation, painted in a pale green with white-framed windows. A white and red Sunbeam Rapier is parked outside one of the units, with the steep, green-clad slopes of the Carneddau mountains providing a dramatic backdrop. This factual record captures the motel in its original configuration, highlighting a significant moment in the modernization of Welsh mountain tourism. The site, situated in the scenic Nant Ffrancon Valley, would eventually become the Snowdonia Mountain Lodge.