Local hoteliers buy Welsh hotel once frequented by TS Eliot

Local hoteliers Chris and Lisa Hutton have bough the TyGlyn Aeron country house hotel in West Wales off an asking price of £850,000.

TyGlyn Aeron is a two-star property in Cilia Aeron, near Aberaeron in Cardiganshire, just eight miles from the Hutton's other hotel, the Falcondale in Lampeter.

A two-star property that focuses on conferences and functions, TyGlyn Aeron complements the Falcondale, which is a three-star, listed Italianate mansion.

TyGlyn Aeron was built in 1825 and became the home of the Reverend Alban Thomas Jones Gwynne who, with his son, built the nearby Georgian town of Aberaeron.

It became a regular summer haunt of poet TS Eliot after its acquisition in 1930 by publisher Geoffrey Faber.

The hotel was gutted by a fire in the mid-1980s but has retained many original features, such as an unusual three-cornered window.

It now offers ten en-suite bedrooms, a bar, a 30-seat restaurant and a 200 capacity function room.

The former owners' accommodation has been converted into one of three conference rooms that can hold around 30 people each. There are also three syndicate rooms for up to six people at a time.

The hotel has retained the five staff bedrooms.

The Huttons intend to build upon the conference business and develop the food side to create an eating-out destination, with refurbishments planned for early 2007.

The Cirencester office of Colliers Robert Barry handled the sale on behalf of previous owners Nigel and Mary Edkins.

Earlier, it sold the TyGlyn Aeron Bungalows on a three-acre site adjacent to the hotel off an asking price of £1m. The new owners are now selling off the ten pairs of cottages and three-bedroom detached bungalow as individual holiday cottages.

By Angela Frewin