The CEO of the company operating the Silurian Hotel in Newport has confirmed that the bar and club that made way for the hotel will soon return to the same location, eight years after it was axed. The popular Delilah's club in the grade II listed building on the corner of Cambrian Road and High Street welcomed drinkers from 2010 until 2014 for live music events, and for many years before that it was Yates’ wine bar.
Craig Davies of Mainty Group, which now oversees the running of the Silurian Hotel, says a bar will now be back at the venue in a matter of weeks which could be called Delilah’s. Work started on the bar five weeks ago. Mainty, which has its headquarters in Newport, took over operations at the hotel towards the end of last year when StayBC vacated the building.
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Mr Davies told WalesOnline: “What became apparent from the number of people walking past and chatting to us was that this place is synonymous with Delilah’s. The space has been unused for some time, basically storage space.
“We want to do something with it and we initially thought about a restaurant but then thought no let’s take it back to its roots. We are going to make a slightly higher class but industrial looking bar with modern music. It’ll be a bar and a place to socialise.
“We’ve put a poll out on social media asking all of our followers to decide on what we should call it. We know many people know it as Delilah’s and many know it as Yates’.” You can sign up to our Newport newsletter here.
The bar, which had been empty for five years and had looked rundown and vandalised, will be another welcome addition to the city which is undergoing something of a transformation sparked by Newport Market’s stunning redevelopment. You can read about the revolution of Newport’s High Street here.
“If you think of the follow through from the new railway development this part of the city is in prime location and isn’t your real alcohol-fuelled area but it’s a nice place to be,” Mr Davies said. "The guys are already doing a great job. Lots of sound deadening has gone in and lots of insulation so noise isn't affecting our guests in the hotel.
“We're really looking forward to bringing something back to Newport. We’re really excited about what we’re doing and we hope others will be too."
