The last time I ate in the Castle Hotel, the restaurant was called Off the Square. That was pre-Stephanie and it tells you how far back it was... so it was time, on Saturday, to try again...
What does £5 get you these days? Exactly a gallon of petrol on Rhuthun’s forecourts. Three days’ worth of parking at three hours a go. 16 cigarettes in a typical packet of 20. Not even a week’s worth of quality dailies.
It also gets you a main meal on weekday lunchtimes at either the Castle Hotel or Anchor. This is an offer extended by the Llangollen Hotels group till at least March 2010. Owner Stephanie Booth heavily marketed this and her Castle Hotel’s Steak House restaurant when the Wetherspoon's purchase of the Castle Hotel fell through. Booth has tried to be more like Wetherspoon’s than Wetherspoon’s but suffers from the inability to build such a strong brand. Somehow, the fading grandeur of the Castle Hotel doesn’t quite lend itself to a spit-and-sawdust Wetherspoon’s.
Since, Stephanie has again tried to sell both the Castle Hotel and Anchor (at over £500,000 each) but has subsequently withdrawn them from the market. One of the problems with the Castle Hotel is the condition of its fabric, a cause of some concern in the town. This was something Wetherspoon’s was prepared to remedy, till they pulled out. Wetherspoon’s cited the recession yet it’s evident that it’s pushing ahead with other purchases. For example, it’s believed to be interested in a site in Shotton. And now, it could be interested in Rhuthun again.
A £5 meal is pretty much a bargain. You get a main course for the price of an appetiser. It’s unlikely that Llangollen Hotels makes much money on the £5 deal. Take off VAT and that’s £4.25, £4.13 from 2010. How likely is that to cover the cost of food, service and a contribution to overheads? The restaurant & hospitality business typically marks food up by 100 per cent which means, in theory, the cost of the raw material is £2.13. Seems impossible, without substandard ingredients. At the least, the basic food must surely be at the lower quality end.
My recent meal was advertised as a 4oz battered cod with chips, garnish and mushy peas. I had to wait at table an acceptable 19 minutes. The number of refreshingly irregularly cut chunky chips was 17, equating exactly to the highest number of people dining (that I could see). The £5 deal is no doubt aimed at volume, trying to fill otherwise empty covers. The philosophy’s not surprising, given that her husband was heavily associated with Kwiksave.
The fish & chips were at takeaway prices but the size of the portion was smaller. It’s difficult to visualise a 4oz piece of cod before you order. If it wasn’t for the batter, it seems to me it would be little more than a fish finger or two. The mushy peas were a little dry, the chips tasty & not at all soggy. The £5 meal was filling for a midday meal but would not satisfy someone dining in the evening (and it’s not designed to).
It seemed to me that the better deal was at the Wynnstay Arms when it was offering two courses for £7.50. Now here was a bulging main course and a filling combination, too.
That’s not to denigrate the Castle Hotel too much. It made a nice change to lunchtime café dining. Whether you go to the Castle Hotel regularly depends upon what you want. Booth has made a brave attempt at repositioning the Castle Hotel in a highly competitive Rhuthun market. What it’s doing is offering café prices. No doubt the purchase of drinks at the bar helps its profitability. It’s also offering pudding at £2.50 and coffee at 99p.
What does £5 get you these days? Exactly a gallon of petrol on Rhuthun’s forecourts. Three days’ worth of parking at three hours a go. 16 cigarettes in a typical packet of 20. Not even a week’s worth of quality dailies.
It also gets you a main meal on weekday lunchtimes at either the Castle Hotel or Anchor. This is an offer extended by the Llangollen Hotels group till at least March 2010. Owner Stephanie Booth heavily marketed this and her Castle Hotel’s Steak House restaurant when the Wetherspoon's purchase of the Castle Hotel fell through. Booth has tried to be more like Wetherspoon’s than Wetherspoon’s but suffers from the inability to build such a strong brand. Somehow, the fading grandeur of the Castle Hotel doesn’t quite lend itself to a spit-and-sawdust Wetherspoon’s.
Since, Stephanie has again tried to sell both the Castle Hotel and Anchor (at over £500,000 each) but has subsequently withdrawn them from the market. One of the problems with the Castle Hotel is the condition of its fabric, a cause of some concern in the town. This was something Wetherspoon’s was prepared to remedy, till they pulled out. Wetherspoon’s cited the recession yet it’s evident that it’s pushing ahead with other purchases. For example, it’s believed to be interested in a site in Shotton. And now, it could be interested in Rhuthun again.
A £5 meal is pretty much a bargain. You get a main course for the price of an appetiser. It’s unlikely that Llangollen Hotels makes much money on the £5 deal. Take off VAT and that’s £4.25, £4.13 from 2010. How likely is that to cover the cost of food, service and a contribution to overheads? The restaurant & hospitality business typically marks food up by 100 per cent which means, in theory, the cost of the raw material is £2.13. Seems impossible, without substandard ingredients. At the least, the basic food must surely be at the lower quality end.
My recent meal was advertised as a 4oz battered cod with chips, garnish and mushy peas. I had to wait at table an acceptable 19 minutes. The number of refreshingly irregularly cut chunky chips was 17, equating exactly to the highest number of people dining (that I could see). The £5 deal is no doubt aimed at volume, trying to fill otherwise empty covers. The philosophy’s not surprising, given that her husband was heavily associated with Kwiksave.
The fish & chips were at takeaway prices but the size of the portion was smaller. It’s difficult to visualise a 4oz piece of cod before you order. If it wasn’t for the batter, it seems to me it would be little more than a fish finger or two. The mushy peas were a little dry, the chips tasty & not at all soggy. The £5 meal was filling for a midday meal but would not satisfy someone dining in the evening (and it’s not designed to).
It seemed to me that the better deal was at the Wynnstay Arms when it was offering two courses for £7.50. Now here was a bulging main course and a filling combination, too.
That’s not to denigrate the Castle Hotel too much. It made a nice change to lunchtime café dining. Whether you go to the Castle Hotel regularly depends upon what you want. Booth has made a brave attempt at repositioning the Castle Hotel in a highly competitive Rhuthun market. What it’s doing is offering café prices. No doubt the purchase of drinks at the bar helps its profitability. It’s also offering pudding at £2.50 and coffee at 99p.