Wetherspoon re-opens Newport Walkabout

Managed operator JD Wetherspoon is re-opening the former Walkabout in Newport as a pub and hotel with 29 en-suite bedrooms today. The company has spent £900,000 redeveloping the site during a ten-week building project. The pub is managed by Russell Sorrell and the hotel side of the operation, known as the Wetherspoon Lodge, is managed by Jon Lee.

Wetherspoon has retained the original name of the premises, The Queen's Hotel. The pub features two bars on two floors, as well as a dance floor. The hotel also has a reception area, a function room with its own bar (which is available for hire), as well as five training rooms. Manager Russell Sorrell said: "The Queen's Hotel is a well known building and I believe that it will once again play an important part in Newport's social scene." The site is one of a number of cheaper leasehold venues the company is picking up in the marketplace. Wetherspoon used the strength of its covenant to

persuade the property's landlord to drop the rent from £135,000 to £100,000 per annum.