Formerly the Britannia Hotel, this was an important coaching inn serving Welsh destinations in particular (hence its original name of the Welsh Harp, though it hasn't gone by that name for nearly 200 years). As the Britannia it appeared in the first edition of the Good Beer Guide in 1974. At the time it was owned by Greenall Whitley (Wem) and was "a pleasant and well run 2-star hotel with good ale". before becoming the first of the two J D Wetherspoon establishments in the town in 1998. Taking advantage of the existing Hotel facilities, Wetherspoons declared it as the first of their Wetherlodge budget hotels (there are now over 30 of them). It now offers the usual Wetherspoons fayre, cheap drinks, bargain daily food deals and regular beer & cider festivals. The Shrewsbury Hotel has a number of nooks and crannies to hide away in, if necessary, and at busy times it suffers from the usual Wetherspoon problem of getting served. However, the staff do their best, and one has to bear in mind that they have a hotel to run as well. The concrete structure across the road on the bank of the river is the Quantum Leap (AKA the Slinky) built to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Darwin in 2009.