£1m price tag for Deganwy Castle Hotel

Mar 18 2010 by Eva Ketley, North Wales Weekly News

DEGANWY Castle Hotel has been put up for sale by its owners with a guide price in access of £1m.

The iconic hotel closed suddenly in January with the loss of 35 jobs.

The Grade II listed hotel is for sale with Savills of Manchester, a leading UK estate agent.

The 31-bedroom hotel – which was once run by the family of late TV presenter Paula Yates – was the hub of Deganwy life, with a raft of local clubs such as Rotary, Lions, Round Table, Masons and Probus using its rooms for meetings.

The hotel’s owner Enterprise Inns refused to comment beyond confirming the hotel is up for sale.

Alastair Greenhalgh, an associate director with Savills, who will be in charge of any sale, commented: “I’m confident the hotel has a very good chance of selling as it’s in a fantastic location and the building is attractive.

“We are already getting a high level of interest even though the sale particulars haven’t been printed yet.

“I’m hoping the hotel will be sold as a licensed establishment but if property developers would like to have a look at the site we obviously won’t be able to stop them.”

It’s believed locally the hotel could be demolished to make way for luxury flats, something Cardiff University student Peter Gardener is determined to stop.

The 21-year-old sociology student has set up a page on social networking site Facebook to support the hotel.

He explained: “I’ve lived in Deganwy all my life and the Deganwy Castle Hotel has always been a major landmark in the village.

“I’ve always met my friends down there and I’d only been there a couple of days before it closed with my brothers.

“There was no sign of it closing so when I heard the news I was really shocked.”

“I’ve set up a page on Facebook to get a petition going, to keep it as a hotel and pub.”

So far there are over 300 members in the Facebook page to support the reopening the premises as a hotel and pub.

Deganwy Cllr Jason Weyman commended Peter for his efforts: “I think it’s wonderful that Peter is trying to do something as there is widespread concern about the hotel’s future in Deganwy.