Wales’ first fully vegan hotel opens for bookings

The team behind a popular English holiday spot is expanding across the border with what will be Wales’ first fully plant-based hotel.

Andy and Louise Macbeth acquired Beck Hall in Malham in 2014, transforming the 18th-century building into a working hotel and restaurant.

In the years since they have featured in the Lonely Planet travel guide to Great Britain, The Times Travel 2023 Top 25 Hotels by the Water, Channel 4’s Four in a Bed, and have been accredited as a Living Wage Foundation employer and a Green Tourism Award winner.

Following a £500,000 extension and renovation to The Kitchen at Beck Hall in 2017, in 2023 the owners set out on an “ambitious endeavour” to make it the first fully plant-based hotel in England.

“We cook plant-based food daily at home for our harshest critics,” Andy and Louise said, referring to their two sets of twins.

They continued: “The proof of success is quite literally in the pudding, be it our delicious stroganoff suet pudding with pickled beets or our sticky treacle pud, our plant-based dishes receive fabulous customer reviews.”

On Sunday (15 March), the Beck Hall team announced that they are bringing this award-winning business to north Wales with the opening of Ffarm Hall.

They wrote on Facebook: “Many of you have been part of the Beck Hall journey with us over the years, from our early days in Malham to becoming England’s first fully plant-based hotel.

“The response to that change has been incredibly special, and it’s inspired us to keep sharing the joy of vegan food and compassionate hospitality.

“So today we’re really excited to share something new… Ffarm Hall in North Wales is now open for bookings.”

Located in the village of Betws-yn-Rhos, the ‘Ffarm’ manor dates back to the early 1700s, when it was built by the Oldfield family.

It was sold in 1964 and converted into a hotel and restaurant, one of three in Betws-yn-Rhos at the time, consisting of nine bedrooms.

After changing hands several times in the 1980s and 1990s, it became a boutique B&B in 2006, before it was acquired by the Macbeths as Beck Hall’s sister venue.

The couple continued: “North Wales has always been a special place for us. It’s somewhere we both visited as children and now love returning to with our own family.

“When we found Ffarm Hall – full of charm and character – it felt like the perfect setting for the next chapter.

“Our hope is to create the same warm, welcoming atmosphere many of you know from Beck Hall, with delicious plant-based food, cosy places to unwind, and nature all around.

“And yes… it’s also Wales’ first fully plant-based hotel.

“If you’ve ever visited Beck Hall, we’d love for you to come and experience Ffarm Hall too.”

Ffarm Hall’s restaurant will share the same name as Beck Hall’s, The Kitchen, and will serve “plant-based dishes that are uncompromisingly delicious, wholesome and indulgent.”

The sample menu includes snacks and sandwiches, as well as innovative meals like tomato fillet steak, battered banana blossom and chips, sticky toffee pumpkin pudding, and a plant-based roast on Sundays.

As well as eschewing animal products in their restaurant and bar, Ffarm Hall’s hotel toiletries, uniforms and laundry suppliers will only use vegan products.

Some furniture items such as sofas and chairs, feather cushions, and woollen carpets will remain at the Hall until “the end of their natural lifespan” to avoid waste.

However, the couple are understanding of different lifestyles, and the Ffarm Hall site reads: “Plant-based doesn’t have to be all or nothing. As former meat eaters, we know that becoming plant-based or vegan is a personal journey.”

As a dog-friendly hotel, those who bring their pets to the Hall at an extra cost of £10 a night are able to store non-vegan dog food in their rooms or in a separate fridge in the hotel’s kitchen.

Ffarm Hall is now taking bookings ahead of its grand opening in May 2026, with 14 ‘snuggeries’ available for stays. Visit their site here for more information.