Llandudno's Esplanade hotel sold after nearly 100 years in one family

The 59-bedroom Esplanade hotel in Llandudno, North Wales, has been sold after being owned by the Payne family for nearly 100 years.

Blackpool-based care provider Safehands has acquired the four-storey Victorian property for an undisclosed sum off a £1.2m asking price. It now plans to convert the building into a holiday venue for people with disabilities and their carers or family members.

The hotel has been owned by the Payne family since its launch within five Victorian townhouses in the 1920s by Jack Payne, the founder of J E Payne, which also operated The Winter Gardens Ballroom and Payne's Cafe Royal in Llandudno.

His son Charles Payne, whose guests included Labour prime minister Harold Wilson and the Duke of Kent, passed the hotel to his daughter and current operator Gwenda McDonald, who is now retiring from the hotel trade.

The sale was overseen by the Manchester office of Colliers International.

New owner for Llandudno hotel >>
Llandudno's Royal Hotel goes into administration >>