This imposing Renaissance Revival building was once the Welsh coal trade's nerve center, and for a time the place where international coal prices were set. It was here in March 1908 that a coal merchant wrote the world's first-ever £1 million check. The building narrowly missed becoming the home of the Welsh government in 1979, fell into disrepair, got spectacularly refurbished between 2016 and 2020 and has, as of October 2020, opened as a luxury hotel-cum-restaurant.
It might be worth the price of a drink to get an interior peep: the best features are the exquisite dark wood paneling, carved balconies and Corinthian columns.
