Brown's Hotel (Laugharne)

Browns Hotel

The hotel
General information
Location Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, Wales,
Coordinates 51°46′17″N 4°27′44″W / 51.77139°N 4.46222°W / 51.77139; -4.46222
Owner Nigel Short
Design and construction
Architect Powell Dobson
Other information
Number of rooms 14

Browns Hotel is a guesthouse and public bar in Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It has been owned by Nigel Short since 2006 and was refurbished in 2012. It is known for being the favourite pub of the poet and writer, Dylan Thomas, who lived in Laugharne from 1938-1940, and from 1949-1953 in the Boathouse (latterly known as the Dylan Thomas Boathouse) which is now a museum. Browns Hotel is situated in King Street close to the 18th century market house and town hall in the centre of Laugharne, .


History

Brown's Hotel was built in 1752,[1] as a private house before becoming a hotel in the 19th century. The bar is listed by Cadw. Following in Dylan Thomas' footsteps, other visitors have included U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, Elizabeth Taylor, Patti Smith, Pierce Brosnan and Mick Jagger; the latter two competed to buy a steel bed that Thomas had once slept in when it was owned by landlord Tommy Watts. Brown's was not used as a hotel from 1958 until 2012. It was owned for a time by actor Neil Morrissey before being sold in 2006.[2]

Dylan Thomas

Dylan Thomas befriended Ivy Thomas, the landlady of 'The Browns' as it is known locally (the apostrophe vanished some years ago). She supplied him with stories and gossip, source material for Under Milk Wood. He drank there most nights when in Laugharne, with his wife, Caitlin Thomas.[3] He gave the hotel phone number as his own. In a letter to a friend planning a visit in 1938 he wrote, 'Drop in at Brown's Hotel & buy a Felinfoel and ask where we live: they know.'[4] Both he and Caitlin had their wakes in Browns after their funerals in 1953 and 1994 respectively.

Interior

Browns Hotel has 15 rooms, a conference room, reading room and bar. The hotel was extensively refurbished by Powell Dobson and has a 1950s ambience. The rooms feature period details, exposed stonework, specially commissioned wall-art photography, original beams and hand-made furniture.

References

  1. ↑ Lloyd, Thomas; Orbach, Julian; Scourfield, Robert (15 December 2006). Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion. Yale University Press. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-300-10179-9. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  2. ↑ "Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey sued for £250,000 after pub and hotel firm fails". Daily Mail. 25 June 2009. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  3. ↑ Else, David; Davenport, Fionn (1 May 2009). Great Britain. Lonely Planet. p. 706. ISBN 978-1-74104-491-1. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  4. ↑ The Collected Letters edited by Paul Ferris. Page 350 (New Edition 2000) ISBN 0-460-87999-5

External links

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