PLANS have emerged to to convert a former luxury hotel and spa in the Vale of Glamorgan into a huge home.

Holm House on Marine Parade in Penarth was a hotel from 2004, but the building dates back to the 1920s when it was built as a home.

The former hotel, which was also a restaurant, closed this year with it stating online that business failed to be profitable after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Converting the home, if plans are approved, will not involve any changes to the external elevation of the building or the area immediately around it.

A planning document published on behalf of the developers, SC Design Build Ltd, states that the application provides an opportunity to return the building to its original use and avoid it deteriorating as a vacant building.

It also states that the demand for hotel accommodation in Penarth “of this type and scale” is “demonstrated as being volatile”.

The document goes on to add that there have been no viable offers to purchase Holm House in order for it to be run as a hotel since it closed.

It continues: “The proposal offers an opportunity to provide a home in a sustainable location.
“Additionally, the proposal offers an opportunity to retain and enhance an existing building of merit in a manner that requires minimal alterations.”

The former luxury hotel in the centre of PenarthThe former luxury hotel in the centre of Penarth (Image: Newsquest)

The hotel shut its doors on March 31The hotel shut its doors on March 31 (Image: Newsquest)

Prior to Holm House becoming a hotel, it did also act as a care home with council planning documents showing permission was given for this change of use in 1976.

The conservation area appraisal for Penarth in 2011 listed Holm House as a ‘county treasure’.
Holm House Hotel, which hosted celebrities like Tyson Fury, David Hasselhoff, Daniel Craig and Harry Styles, posted on Facebook in January 2024 that it would close.

The post, signed by former general manager Dan Jones, said the business had tried its best to navigate through the post-Covid era “only to be hit by another storm”, which was the cost of living crisis.

The hotel remained open until March 31 and all wedding couples who booked the venue for April 1 or beyond were notified and offered a full refund.