Groom debuts as owner
The former client services manager at the Minotel hotel consortium, Simon Groom, made his debut as a hotel proprietor last week (5 March) at a property that was once the home of Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret.
Groom has taken over the lease of the Plas Dinas country house hotel at Bontnewydd, near Caernarfon in Gwynedd, North Wales. The 17th-century, eight-bedroom property is owned by the trustees for the Armstrong-Jones family, which acquired it in the 19th century.
It has been operating as a hotel for 18 months, under lease to Haute Cuisine Hotels.
Groom, who has worked as a pub-restaurant licensee for Grand Metropolitan and worked in sales and marketing before joining Minotel for six months, said that the hotel is packed with family memorabilia, portraits, furniture and antiques.