The historic Brecon Castle hotel in South Wales has been sold out of administration off an asking price of £1m.
The hotel was created in 1809 by Sir Charles Morgan from the ruins of the adjacent Norman castle to become one of the first modern hotels in Wales. The original castle was built by Bernard de Neufmarche, brother of William the Conqueror, as a ‘marcher’ fortress, later serving as an early coaching inn.
Much of the hotel (which was featured in the Channel 5 programme The Hotel Inspector) is now housed in the later, Georgian part of the building but it still incorporates some parts of the original castle.
It sits on a hilltop in the popular market town of Brecon in the heart of the Brecon Beacons National Park, occupying extensive grounds with riverside gardens and mountain views.
The hotel provides 44 en-suite bedrooms, of which 12 are in a separate annexe in the former castle stables.
Along with the restaurant and adjoining breakfast room, which can hold up to 150 people for large events, the hotel has a number of other function/private dining rooms. They include two rooms – the 130-seat Regency Ballroom and the 40-seat Crug Room with glass-vaulted ceiling – that are licensed for civil wedding ceremonies.
Other options include the medieval castle lounge and bar; the 30-seat, wood-panelled Coach Room, and the 20-seat Morgan Lounge that was named after the hotel’s founder.
The Cardiff office of Colliers Robert Barry sold the property to a local hotelier on behalf of the joint administrators of Cambrian Hotels. Contracts were exchanged less than three weeks after preliminary details were issued.
By Angela Frewin