rundown

The coastal resort has welcomed back its water park and a new market, visitors say the seafront has ‘improved 100 per cent’ – and that’s just the beginning

The Welsh seaside resort of Rhyl was once a magnet for generations of holidaymakers. But in recent years, the tourist crowds have ebbed away as cheap foreign holidays have drawn them abroad.

The North Wales town has struggled with its reputation and the cost of living has also hit hard. But after a recent makeover, this once rundown resort is on the up – and last week it featured in a new ranking of the UK’s best seaside towns. Meanwhile, another UK seaside town named the cheapest place to live is in revolt over plans to flatten a historic area.

North Wales Live reporter David Powell paid a visit to Rhyl on a sunny afternoon to find out what visitors had to think about the improvements, and the consensus was clear.

The promenade has been raised and widened and sea defence work has also taken place as part of a £69m programme of work.

A number of new and returning amenities are hoping to lure visitors back, including street food hall the Queen’s Market, which opened last month with a host of stalls and bars.

The town’s SC2 waterpark also recently reopened, having shut 18 months ago due to storm damage, while the former Vue cinema complex is being brought back to life by new operators Merlin Cinemas.

The site of the SeaQuarium aquarium, which closed in 2023, has also been cleared, ridding the seafront of a derelict eyesore.

Sitting on a bench on the promenade, Kenneth and Janet Hensall, from Denton, Manchester, spoke positively about the improvements.

Kenneth said: “Whoever’s bright idea it was to do this work deserves a pat on the back. I’ve been coming here for 70 years. The front has improved 100 per cent.”

Janet added: “It’s just a pity about the back.”

Further along, towards the lifeboat station, a family-of-four from Stoke-on-Trent were also enjoying their visit to Rhyl.

Andy Walsh, who was visiting with wife Kathy and their children Charlie, nine, and Hattie, six, said of the prom: “It looks a lot better. It’s just a shame there’s not many people here and there’s so much litter.”

Litter was a problem also noticed by 68-year-old Kevin, from Wrexham.

“It’s a shame it’s not as busy as it once was many years ago,” he added.

“The only thing that bothers me is having to pay to park down a side street.”

On the beach, Steve, in his 40s and from Stockport, was enjoying a family break. He said his children were too young to enjoy the new facilities just yet and the beach remained the main attraction for them.

“I have always thought Rhyl was a quite a nice place,” he said. “We come here quite often.

“We’ve only really come for the sand. I like this beach because even at high tide there’s still some sand. It’s not a five-mile walk to have a paddle!”

Denbighshire County Council described the work to Rhyl’s seafront as a “dynamic revival” that will deliver “a major impact for residents, businesses, and visitors”.

Craig Sparrow, Chair of Rhyl Neighbourhood Board, added: “It’s fantastic to see so much positive change happening across the promenade.

“This progress is about more than buildings and infrastructure – it’s about pride, aspiration and unlocking Rhyl’s potential as a great place to live, work and visit. These projects are a direct result of community input and collaborative leadership.”

The transformation isn’t over yet. At the cleared SeaQuarium site, a new public area has been opened up and plans are being developed for future use of the space.

Work is also progressing on a brand-new Drift Park on West Parade, which will replace the former children’s play area with more modern and inclusive facilities.

Sandra Sharp, newly appointed Programme Manager for Ein Rhyl/Our Rhyl, added: “This is just the beginning. We’re seeing real energy and momentum building in Rhyl, and we’re working to ensure local people are central to the journey.”

The Hollywood Premiere Motel doesn’t get a lot of rave reviews — in fact, it’s among the lowest ranked lodgings in the city. But thanks to its mid-century Googie design, it is the first motel to join the L.A.’s Historic-Cultural Monument List.

The City Council approved that designation on Wednesday, singling out the 1960 motel and its weathered neon sign as prime examples from the glory days of roadside architecture. There was no opposition or discussion, nor did the motel owner, listed as Yang Hua Xi, take a position.

“It may have a 1.7-star Tripadvisor rating, but we don’t judge our landmarks by thread count,” said Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez, whose 13th District includes the motel, in a statement.

That Tripadvisor score ranks the motel 110th of 118 motels in Los Angeles, and its Yelp reviews aren’t any better. “Felt like puking,” wrote one Yelp user in May.

The two-story motel, which stands at Hollywood Boulevard and Serrano Avenue, was nominated by preservationist James Dastoli.

“This, to me, is a landmark that defines the entire neighborhood of East Hollywood,” Dastoli said at a city Cultural Heritage Committee meeting in March.

“My initial response, looking at the nomination, was, really?” said commission President Barry Milofsky. But he went on to support the designation.

Though the motel parking lot is often empty, its look has attracted frequent filming in the last decade, including TV’s “Twin Peaks,” “Fargo” and “NCIS: Los Angeles,” along with Justin Timberlake’s 2016 “Can’t Stop the Feeling” music video.

In their report on the site, city staffers found that the motel serves as “an excellent example of a 1960s motel that accommodated automobile tourism in Hollywood” and is “a highly intact and rare example of a 1960s motel in Hollywood.”

After the 1960s, the staff report noted that “motels began to fall out of favor as chains such Holiday Inn increasingly dominated the industry” and tourists turned to more compact building types with corridors indoors, not outside.

Soto-Martinez called the Hollywood Premiere “a survivor — still standing after decades of change in Hollywood.”

The Hollywood Premiere was built in 1960 with 42 units in a two-story, stucco-clad building, with a tall, Googie-style neon sign on a pole, parking near the guest rooms and a swimming pool at the corner of the lot behind breeze blocks. It once had a coffee shop, but that space is now idle. The architect was Joyce Miller, a woman working in a trade then dominated by men.

With Tuesday’s vote, the motel joins a Historic-Cultural Monuments list that includes more than 1,300 businesses, homes and landscape features. Begun in 1962, the list includes familiar icons like Union Station, the Bradbury Building and the Hollywood sign but also many less obvious choices, including Taix French Restaurant (built in 1929); the Studio City site of the Oil Can Harry’s bar (which operated from 1968 to 2021; and Leone’s Castle, a 1936 San Pedro apartment building designed to resemble a French castle.

Designation as a city Historic-Cultural Monument doesn’t automatically protect a building from changes or demolition, nor does it trigger any government spending on preservation. But once a building is designated a landmark, the city’s Office of Historic Resources must review permit application before any alterations are allowed. Demolition is forbidden unless an environmental review has been approved.

The city’s staff report also cited several other roadside lodgings that serve as “exemplary and intact examples of the Mid-Century Modern architectural style,” including the Beverly Laurel Motor Hotel (1964), the Wilshire Twilighter Motor Hotel (1958; now known as the Dunes Inn) and the Hollywood Downtowner Motel (1956), which is being converted into 30 interim residences for people at risk of homelessness as part of the state’s Project Homekey. So far, the Downtowner’s twinkling neon sign above Hollywood Boulevard has been preserved.