Five Welsh seafront hotels, including one that was revamped for £6m, have been closed with immediate effect, with the spread of coronavirus blamed for the shutdown.
The Llandudno Bay Hotel in North Wales - which underwent a multi-million pound facelift in 2015 to transform it from the old Regency Hotel into a 61 bedroom boutique-style hotel and restaurant - has shut its doors, along with the town’s Belmont Hotel and Queens Hotel.
Also on the list are popular Pembrokeshire destinations the Fishguard Bay Hotel in Goodwick and the Grade II-listed Fourcroft Hotel in Tenby.
All five, along with two in West Yorkshire called The Pennine Manor Hotel and The Old Golf House, belonged to Northern Powerhouse Developments Limited, a firm which was founded by entrepreneur Gavin Woodhouse to focus on investments in the leisure and tourism industry.
However, that group went bust in summer 2019 and administrators continued operating all the hotels in its portfolio while a buyer was sought.
But now it seems the ongoing global health situation has seen time run out on finding a purchaser.
Phillip Duffy of Duff & Phelps, the financial consultants brought in to deal with the insolvency, said, “It is clear that the hotel and catering sector is set to face a very tough few months, with income and revenue severely hit by the widespread travel restrictions in place, both across the UK and worldwide.
“As a result, we have had no choice but to close these hotels temporarily as the world addresses the COVID-19 crisis.”
Northern Powerhouse Developments Limited was also in charge of the troubled Afan Valley Adventure Resort project in Port Talbot.
The £200m major tourism development, earmarked for a 325-acre former forestry plantation at Pen-y-Bryn by Croeserw and Cymmer, was bandied about for several years but never made it past the planning stages.
