Couple left devastated as their Prestatyn wedding venue shuts for good

Rhianne Jones, a 25-year-old nursery school teacher who lives in Mansfield, and Scott Holmes, a 26-year-old estimator, booked Lyons Nant Hall Hotel as their wedding venue in June 2021.

Their wedding was pencilled in for July 29, only for the hotel, a Grade II listed landmark on Prestatyn Road, to shut its doors for good on January 1.

The couple chose Lyons Nant Hall partly because Rhianne wanted the ceremony to be close to where she grew up, having lived in Kinmel Bay as a child.

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Prestatyn hotel and Grade II listed building closes its doors

Though Lyons Holiday Parks, the company responsible for the site, provided a full refund of their £900 deposit, Rhianne admitted that the situation “hasn't been dealt with very well so far”.

She said: “We loved the new function room that was having its final touches when we went for our initial viewing, and they told us they could accommodate anything that we wanted on our day, which was what made us book.

“I found out on Monday (January 2) after my mum called me to tell me she had seen a news article that it had closed down.

“About 15 minutes later, I received a phone call from Nant Hall to confirm my wedding had been cancelled.

“It hasn't been dealt with very well so far. They offered no other options, except a refund and recommended some other venues in the area.”

Lyons Nant Hall, Prestatyn (Image: Newsquest)

Rhianne added that, after being told they would receive their refund on the afternoon of January 2, this did not materialise until Saturday morning (January 7).

Her fiancé’s mother, though, is yet to be refunded for the rooms she had booked at the hotel, she said.

She added: “I then received another phone call on Wednesday (January 4) to tell me their system had broken and that they needed the refund details again.

“I gave my details, and they told me it would be back with us that afternoon, which we received on Saturday morning.

“My future mother-in-law also had £600 worth of rooms booked for the occasion, and she is yet to receive her money.

“We've been in touch with a few other venues who are holding our date for us until we can travel from Mansfield to see them, which is amazing.

“There are people a lot less fortunate than us who are going to have to completely change their plans.”

The couple have also had to book a new registrar in the Chester region, which lost them the £200 they had spent on their original registrar in Denbighshire.

Family business Lyons Holiday Parks bought the site in 2010.

The company, founded in Rhyl in the 1920s, runs almost 20 holiday sites across North Wales and Cumbria.

Rhianne added: “I wish there was some other compensation they could offer for the time lost, stress caused, and money lost from other parts of our wedding that have been affected.”

In response, a Lyons Holiday Parks spokesperson said: “The company has refunded all Nant Hall cancellations. We apologise.”

Lyons said last week that it will try to redeploy those who worked at Lyons Nant Hall elsewhere.

The reason for the hotel’s closure, it said, was its “high running costs”.

It has decided to apply for a change of use of the site.