Browns Hotel is a

guesthouse A guest house (also guesthouse) is a kind of lodging. In some parts of the world (such as the Caribbean), guest houses are a type of inexpensive hotel-like lodging. In others, it is a private home that has been converted for the exclusive use o ...

and

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

Laugharne Laugharne ( cy, Talacharn) is a town on the south coast of Carmarthenshire, Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Tâf. The ancient borough of Laugharne Township ( cy, Treflan Lacharn) with its Corporation and Charter is a unique survival i ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

, Wales. It is a grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and is known for being the favourite pub of the poet and writer,

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...

. He lived in Laugharne from 1938 to 1940 and from 1949 to 1953 in the Boathouse (now known as the

Dylan Thomas Boathouse The Boathouse in Laugharne, Wales, was where Dylan Thomas lived with his family during his last four years between 1949 and 1953. The house is set in a cliff overlooking the Tâf estuary and is where he wrote many of his major pieces. It has been ...

, and open to the public as a museum). Brown's Hotel is situated in King Street close to the 18th-century market house and town hall in the centre of Laugharne. The hotel was sold in 2020 and is owned by Martyn Ingram and his partner Melanie Hamilton-Searle, who bought it from Nigel Short.

History

Brown's Hotel was built in 1752, as a private house, before becoming a hotel in the 19th century. The hotel is a grade II

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage s ...

. Following in Dylan Thomas' footsteps, other visitors have included U.S. President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

Peter O'Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic ...

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album '' Horses''. Called the "punk poe ...

Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He is best known as the fifth actor to play secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 (''GoldenEye'', ''Tomorrow ...

, and

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

. Jagger and Brosnan 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 Neil Anthony Morrissey (born 4 July 1962) is an English actor. He is known for his role as Tony in ''Men Behaving Badly''. Other notable acting roles include Deputy Head Eddie Lawson in the BBC One school-based drama series '' Waterloo Road'', ...

before being sold in 2006.

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 ''Under Milk Wood'' is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, commissioned by the BBC and later adapted for the stage. A film version, ''Under Milk Wood'' directed by Andrew Sinclair, was released in 1972, and another adaptation of ...

''. He drank there most nights when in Laugharne, with his wife,

Caitlin Thomas Caitlin Thomas (née Macnamara; 8 December 1913 – 31 July 1994) was an author and the wife of the poet and writer Dylan Thomas. Their marriage was a stormy affair, fuelled by alcohol and infidelity, though the couple remained together until Dy ...

. 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 Felinfoel (pronounced ) is a small village and electoral ward on the River Lliedi on the northern border of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, West Wales, with a population of about 2,000. The Felinfoel Brewery, home of Double Dragon Ale, is the oldest ...

and ask where we live: they know."The Collected Letters edited by Paul Ferris. Page 350 (New Edition 2000) 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

External links

Brown's Hotel's Website
* {{Authority control Hotels in Wales Buildings and structures in Carmarthenshire Hotel buildings completed in 1752 Pubs in Wales Laugharne Grade II listed pubs in Wales Grade II listed buildings in Carmarthenshire