A Machynlleth couple who chose the Dyfi Valley town over Hawaii have taken over their ‘beloved’ Wynnstay Arms Hotel.
The high street hotel was offered to regulars, Huw Morgan and Gail Jenkins, over drinks one evening over a year ago.
One long year later, the couple has taken over the bar, restaurant, and three-star hotel and plans to give it “a new lease of life”.
Huw Morgan said he missed his hometown whilst working as a researcher in Hawaii, having grown up in Llanbrynmair, and returned to the town where his wife and children have since got stuck in with community life.
Huw, who now works at Aberystwyth University as a professor in physics, said: “As wonderful as Hawaii was I really missed home. We always wanted to raise our kids here.
“Now they’re getting a bit older we’ve become a bit redundant, so it’s the perfect moment for a new challenge!
“Gail is the driving force behind the Wynnstay now and she’s good at it- watching her at work, it comes naturally to her. She’s obsessed with food, good food, and wine.
“So when we were offered to buy the place by previous owners Charles Dark and Sheila Simpson, our instant reaction was ‘yes!’.”
Gail gave up her business of eight years, Caffi Alys, on the high street over a year ago in search of a “new challenge”.
The pair, whose boys are 12 and 17, took over the Wynnstay officially on St David’s Day, 1 March, with the help of the Development Bank of Wales.
It’s already a family business, with the couple's eldest son Morus having already worked in the kitchen for over a year.
They plan to keep the hotel’s “fantastic selection of local food and drink” going, making it more local if they can, and reinstall the community atmosphere with a range of new events.
The couple hopes to begin open mic nights, quiz nights, lunches, afternoon teas, and evening cocktails as well as invigorating the ongoing folk session that sees up to 20 musicians jamming in the backroom every other Friday.
The family took over from owners of 18 years Charles and Sheila, who wrote in an emotional Facebook post on the day of handover: “[We] built up this business twice, from 1998 to 2007, turning it from a rundown two-star into a destination three-star hotel with a great reputation for wine and food, with the help of Head Chef, Gareth Johns.”