January 2011 Update on Wetherspoon's here
Rhuthun’s Castle Hotel looks set to become J D Wetherspoon’s 694th UK branch. Planning permission was submitted on 7 November but only upon its success will the hotel transfer from local hotelier Stephanie Booth, owners of The Anchor and three other hotels in Denbighshire.
J D Wetherspoon: is this good for Rhuthun/Ruthin?
On the positive side, Wetherspoon branches attract a significant number of people. One in Rhuthun is likely to act as a magnet. Wetherspoon’s pubs tend to be highly formulaic but certainly not synthetic—a known quantity. In support of itself, Wetherspoon’s says its is “strongly committed to regional tastes and produce” and ”local dishes using locally sourced ingredients, particularly in Scotland and Wales”.
Wetherspoon’s also intends to refurbish the interior and undertake essential repairs to the building’s brick, timber and iron frontage, then and redecorate. The structure is Grade II* listed so changes to the façade and lobby need be sympathetic. The façade is in fact Georgian but this belies an older interior.
And let's face it, the Castle Hotel has a sort of fading glory that needs some investment.
It’s not all good news, though. The chain is to the pub leisure market as Tesco is to food retailing. This means it will prove stiff competition not only for the 10 other pubs in Rhuthun, but the number of upmarket restaurants, wine bars and food pubs in town and local villages—such as The Rhuthun Castle, Fusions and Manorhaus. New landlords at the Star (Clwyd Street), the promised new wine bar in Well Street and the Drovers (Rhewl) will be wondering about the timing of their own business decisions. But a Wetherspoon’s may also generate evening business.
The nearest Wetherspoons at present are at Yr Wyddgrug/Mold (one) and Wrecsam (two), Y Rhyl (one) and Chester (one). There’s once reported to be another Wetherspoon's transformation of the former church rooms at Lenten Pool, Dinbych.
Booth once owned the Clwyd Gate and The Plough (Llandegla). She currently has Bodidris Hall (Llandegla) and the Chain Bridge & Bryn Howel (both in Llangollen). Booth is in fact one of the area’s eccentrics and is an outspoken campaigner on behalf of transvestites and transsexuals. She runs a website, a number of shops and indeed manufacturing facility, all specialising in this particular niche. She runs a sanctuary for some 300 animals.
Rhuthun’s Castle Hotel looks set to become J D Wetherspoon’s 694th UK branch. Planning permission was submitted on 7 November but only upon its success will the hotel transfer from local hotelier Stephanie Booth, owners of The Anchor and three other hotels in Denbighshire.J D Wetherspoon: is this good for Rhuthun/Ruthin?
On the positive side, Wetherspoon branches attract a significant number of people. One in Rhuthun is likely to act as a magnet. Wetherspoon’s pubs tend to be highly formulaic but certainly not synthetic—a known quantity. In support of itself, Wetherspoon’s says its is “strongly committed to regional tastes and produce” and ”local dishes using locally sourced ingredients, particularly in Scotland and Wales”.
Wetherspoon’s also intends to refurbish the interior and undertake essential repairs to the building’s brick, timber and iron frontage, then and redecorate. The structure is Grade II* listed so changes to the façade and lobby need be sympathetic. The façade is in fact Georgian but this belies an older interior.
And let's face it, the Castle Hotel has a sort of fading glory that needs some investment.
It’s not all good news, though. The chain is to the pub leisure market as Tesco is to food retailing. This means it will prove stiff competition not only for the 10 other pubs in Rhuthun, but the number of upmarket restaurants, wine bars and food pubs in town and local villages—such as The Rhuthun Castle, Fusions and Manorhaus. New landlords at the Star (Clwyd Street), the promised new wine bar in Well Street and the Drovers (Rhewl) will be wondering about the timing of their own business decisions. But a Wetherspoon’s may also generate evening business.
The nearest Wetherspoons at present are at Yr Wyddgrug/Mold (one) and Wrecsam (two), Y Rhyl (one) and Chester (one). There’s once reported to be another Wetherspoon's transformation of the former church rooms at Lenten Pool, Dinbych.
Booth once owned the Clwyd Gate and The Plough (Llandegla). She currently has Bodidris Hall (Llandegla) and the Chain Bridge & Bryn Howel (both in Llangollen). Booth is in fact one of the area’s eccentrics and is an outspoken campaigner on behalf of transvestites and transsexuals. She runs a website, a number of shops and indeed manufacturing facility, all specialising in this particular niche. She runs a sanctuary for some 300 animals.
Tags:
Pubs