Historic Welsh hotel goes on the market for £1.8m

A historic Welsh hotel has gone on the market for £1.8m.

The world-famous Chainbridge Hotel, in Llangollen, was built in 1827 and became a popular venue due to its location adjacent to the iconic chain bridge over the River Dee.

It is now on the market with Manchester-based specialist agents Fleurets, according to the property website Rightmove.

According to the sales description  the detached three storey property includes 33 en-suite bedrooms, a bar, a function room and a restaurant. It has an outdoor seating area which provides riverside views along the front elevation.

It also has an unsurfaced car park for about 40/50 vehicles with a metal bridge leading down to the hotel plus a surfaced car park at the same level of the hotel for approximately 16 vehicles.

‘Surrey-born businessman’

Back in October 2012 it was reported by Llanblogger that the hotel had been bought for £500,000 by Surrey-born businessman Seamus O’Keeffe, who then in his early twenties.

Mr O’Keeffe had rescued it from administration following the collapse of Stephanie Booth’s Llangollen Hotels group of which it had been part.

He told Llanblogger that the enterprise would be more of a family business than an investment opportunity because running hotels had been a family affair for him.

He went initially into public relations with a London agency after reading history at Leeds University.

He then took a different career direction to help run the George III hotel near Dolgellau with his wife Elizabeth for his parents-in-law.

When after buying the Chainbridge he the family moved up to Llangollen.

Mr O’Keeffe told the Daily Post: “We’re under no pressure to move on, and whenever we do it will be with a heavy heart.

“It’s a magical place but we think it’s the right time to give somebody else a crack of the whip!

“It’s an absolutely fantastic business, obviously an incredible, unique location, and we’ve had a lot of fun and success building up the hotel over the 10 years we’ve been here.

“We have some other interests we want to try and pursue so it seems the right time for a change.