Richard Burton stayed at the hotel when he was making his film debut

The owners of the Bontddu Hall Hotel have applied to the national park authority for permision to change its use.

They want to restore the Victorian country mansion to its former glory.

But tourism chiefs say the conversion of the hotel near Barmouth will be a "retrograde step."

David Clay, a director of the Mid Wales Tourism Partnership and manager of Barmouth Publicity Association, said the loss of the luxury three-star hotel was sad for the area.

Hundreds of tourism jobs have gone ther in recent years with the close of other big hotels locally and Mr Clay said this latest closure was another blow for the industry.

The hotel overlooks Barmouth and the Mawddach estuary

"Bontddu Hall once atttacted high calibre, high spending guests from overseas," he said.

"Closing it down is definitely a retrograde step".

Actor Richard Burton stayed in the 20-bedroom mansion which has sweeping views of the Mawddach Estuary when he was making his 1949 film debut, The Last Days of Dolwyn, with Emlyn Williams.

The hall was built originally in 1873 for a wealthy English family. Victorian statesman Joseph Chamberlain and his son, Neville Chamberlain, who went on to become prime minister, were both frequent visitors at Bontddu Hall.

Later the hall passed into the ownership of the Hall family who also owned other hotels in the region.

Drawings

The hotel's present owner, London-based businessman Yung-Soo Tong, applied last month to the Snowdonia National Park Authority for the change of use.

The couple bought the hotel three years ago, and Mr Tong, said they now wanted to convert it to a house, and restore all its original fittings.

"We want to restore the hall to its former glory," said Mr Tong.

"We think it will take us some time and if anyone can help us with information or drawings of how the house used to look, we would like to hear from them."

A spokesman for the park authority said the application for change of use would be considered within the next couple of months.