Historic Shropshire hotel opens doors to drinkers ahead of £250,000 refurbishment
Customers have been able to call in at an historic town centre hotel once more – for a drink at least.
The doors to Newport's Grade II-listed Royal Victoria Hotel have reopened after the venue closed suddenly last year.
Lawrence Smith, the new tenant of the building in St Mary's Street, has reopened the hotel's bar. But it will be another six months until the entire building is reopened as £250,000 refurbishment work will need to be carried out.
The building, which dates back to 1830, had been targeted by vandals while it was closed and fears have been expressed by town leaders that loss of the hotel, which is also used as a bar and function rooms, could effect the local economy.
Mr Smith, a Yorkshire hotel owner, stepped in after seeing the building up for sale online.
He described Newport as a "jewel" and said he would be working closely with owners Marston's to restore the hotel to its former glory after it reopened on Thursday.
Mr Smith, said: "The expectation and hope is that over next few weeks we will be putting together some plans with Marton's in terms of refurbishment works and remedial works, and moving in to 2016 we will be busy again and have the local community using it for private functions and a base for societies and groups meetings in Newport.
"In the meantime we have decided to open the property back up to the town as soon as possible because it has been closed for a number of months and that gives us the opportunity to get to know the people of Newport and get their feedback in terms of what they want in want from the hotel."
Mr Smith said he felt a strong sense of Newport when he came to visit the property earlier this year – his first visit to the town.
He said: "When we come to Newport it seemed a very attractive town and seems as if there was a lot going on in the community.
"One of the first things we noticed was the there appeared to be no or very few empty shops on the high street which is a rarity nowadays."
Patrick Beech, chairman of Newport's Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the redevelopment. He said: "It is fantastic news and it will bring St Mary's Street back to life."
