I am confident that everyone reading this will wholeheartedly welcome the news that J D Wetherspoon will start work on the Castle Hotel after the bank holiday, on Tuesday. This is because it is one of Rhuthun/Ruthin's most prominent buildings. Others may be more meritorious but they're all slightly tucked away. Given its importance, it's hard to think that the Castle Hotel's exterior can deteriorate any more than it has under Stephanie's hapless ownership. The proposed £2mil interior and exterior refurbishment will therefore be most welcome.I am less confident about the reception Wetherspoon's will receive when it actually opens. Publicans will probably be less than happy. And café proprietors. And restaurateurs. And guest houses, such as there are. Expect a bit of a shake down.
The opening won't be till 4th January 2012 (according to the Free Press) or 17th January (according to Wetherspoon's). The state of the building and the alterations Wetherspoon's wish to make accounts for the four-month wait.
JDW must know what it's doing but I can't help wondering whether it's missed a trick by opening three days after the Christmas holiday, when the town's run dry and celebrations have run out of steam. This is what happened at the Picture House. Unless, of course, this is all part of the strategy: JDW will get good opening trade no matter when it chooses, so it may as well wait for a time when business is otherwise slackest.
Newspaper reports also suggest that JDW will create 45 new jobs. What it doesn't say is how many of these will be full or part time and whether this is nett or gross. In other words, has it deducted the jobs lost upon the spring closure of the Castle Hotel? And, what about potential jobs lost elsewhere in the hospitality trade, as a result of Wetherspoon's pub, food & hotel? You don't make this scale of investment for nothing; it's bound to have an effect. And, remember, Rhuthun's already seen pub closures. There's only so much money around.
Lastly, following the blog survey on whether the Castle Hotel should revert to its historic name of the White Lion, I wrote to Wetherspoon's to solicit their views. I soon got a reply that, paraphrasing heavily, kinda told me, politely, they would look into it. Yeah, right.
It's also slightly ironic that that at the foot of every JDW page is a reference to "Lloyd's No.1 Bar". Stephanie variously called her hostelries either Llangollen or Lloyd's Hotels.