Pembroke House acquires new owners after tragedy
A Grade II-listed Welsh hotel whose previous owner murdered his family before hanging himself has found a new owner after languishing on the market for 21 months.
The 21-bedroom Pembroke House hotel in Haverfordwest, Dyfed, was sold in early September to Debbie and Andy Donkin, who run the Crown Inn at nearby Tenby.
Money problems are believed to have driven the hotel's previous owner, Robert Mochrie, to kill his wife, his four children and then himself at his home in Barry in July 2000 (Caterer, 3 and 10 August 2000).
Mochrie bought the hotel in 1998, but it was severely damaged by a fire in late 1999 and struggled to attract customers after repair.
It closed in January 2000, and two attempts to auction it before the murders failed to reach its reserve price of £150,000. The hotel finally reopened about four weeks ago.
General manager Stuart Nicholls did not believe that the sad history of its former owner would cling to the hotel. He suspected it would be remembered by local people but not by those from further afield. It was possible, he added, that some might visit out of curiosity.
