A THRIVING pub in Abergele has added a 2023 TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Award to its list of honours.

The Harp, on Market Street, received the award for the second successive year, which is based on the reviews customers post on TripAdvisor’s website.

In total, the pub has 288 TripAdvisor reviews, with 176 rating its as “excellent” and 45 as “very good”.

Travellers' Choice winners are among the top 10 per cent of businesses on TripAdvisor.

READ MORE:

Prestatyn steakhouse wins TripAdvisor award ahead of new menu

Landlord Kevin Williams took the pub on just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, before having to re-open it later than most other businesses due to a £126,000 transformation.

But since The Harp welcomed customers back, he said, “we’ve never looked back”.

He said: “We should just have six staff, but we’re that busy now that we’ve got 17!

“It means a lot to get recognition of the hard work the staff put into it. I have a vision as landlord of how I want things to be, but the staff have to implement that themselves.

“We’ve managed to turn it into a family-oriented, dog-friendly pub. People who hadn’t been in for 10 years now come in regularly.

“I’m most proud of the staff implementing things in the way I want them to be done. They’ve all done brilliantly.

“A lot of people struggle to get staff, but we’ve not had that - we have to fantastic full-time chefs, who cook really, really nice food. It’s superb.

“We have a good bunch of regulars now, as well as people coming from Flint, Anglesey, Bangor… everywhere.”

As well as its TripAdvisor awards in 2022 and 2023, The Harp has also received accolades for the pouring and quality of its Guinness.

The pub’s 2020 refurbishment involved it being re-decorated, as well as new signage and lighting being erected.

Its beer garden was re-landscaped to make space for 60 customers, and added new timber furniture, planters and a pergola.