Excitement brews as Rozel Tea Room owner 'tea-ses' relocation

Thursday 28 September 2023

After over a decade in the sweet treat business, a local business owner was forced to close her beloved Rozel Tearoom last year… but she seems to have found a new home for her café.

Maria Smith, the former owner of Rozel Tearoom, posted pictures on Facebook of her homemade afternoon tea with a garden background resembling Samares Manor and the caption: "Coming soon!!".

Many comments expressed excitement about the new location, with one hinting at a March 2024 opening.

Ms Smith said she "didn't want to give anything away", but uploaded the post "so that people don't forget about me".

Run for 11 years by Ms Smith, Rozel Bay Tearoom closed last year after the café owner's landlord decided to sell the building.

“The tearoom has been my whole life for many years, so it’s going to be extremely hard to see it go," she said at the time.

A planning application was then submitted in June to convert the tearoom into a three-bedroom family home after the hospitality venue failed to attract any buyers despite eight months on the market.

Pictured: Maria Smith ran Rozel Bay Tearoom from 2011 until she was forced to close in November last year.

In support of the planning application, a consultant noted that "Rozel Bay is not considered a tourist destination area" and explained that "the property has been advertised for sale through Slomans Estate Agents over the last six months with no one interested in purchasing the property as it is".

However, local residents challenged the claim that Rozel is not a tourist hotspot, suggesting that it has been for quite some time. They said there was a "proven market demand" for a café in a unique area and challenged the idea of adding residential accommodation to a densely populated rural section of the island.

That application is still yet to be decided.