ENNISMORE PLANS FOR SOHO-LIKE DEVELOPMENT
Ennismore, the company behind Gleneagles Hotels, is planning to create a luxurious multimillion-pound leisure development which will include holiday tepees, a spa and restaurant on the site of Easterton Farm, near Auchterarder, which the company has purchased. Gleneagles has submitted a proposal of application for the ambitious Perthshire development with Perth and Kinross Council, and they have said they intend to lodge full plans in the Spring. It is believed it will be similar in nature to private members club Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire, part of Nick Jones Soho franchise, which already provides catering to some of Ennismore’s other hotels. Meanwhile Gleneagles has just been unveiled as an Official Supporter of the Glasgow 2018 European Championships – an exciting new
multi-sport event that will see Gleneagles make golfing history as host of the first ever European Golf Team Championships. To be staged every four years, the European Championships will combine the existing European Championships of Athletics, Aquatics, Cycling, Gymnastics, Rowing and Triathlon. The first event will be held in 2018, in a unique sporting partnership between Host Cities Glasgow and Berlin. The European Golf Team Championships is the only new event being staged as part of Glasgow 2018 and will take place at the famous Jack Nicklaus-designed Gleneagles PGA Centenåary Course – the same venue that hosted Europe’s memorable victory over the USA in the 2014 Ryder Cup.
• HANS AND LYDIA RISSMAN
Green-light for £50m former BHS store
The former Princes Street British Home Stores in Edinburgh is set to become a hotel, after councillors unanimously approved the plan. In September, work will begin on the B listed building to turn it into a mixed-use development which will include a 133-bedroom hotel, a rooftop bar and restaurant, restaurants and retail outlets. The Coal Pension Investment Fund is behind the investment, and as owner of the building, is set to spend around £50m on the project with LaSalle Investment Management overseeing the fund. CDA Architects are designing the new hotel.
Revamp for Fife Arms Hotel
The Fife Arms Hotel in Braemar is undergoing a multi-million pound revamp. Owners Iwan and Manuela Wirth, who bought the hotel last year, are aiming to transform the 19th century hotel into one of the best in Scotland.The work is expected to take a year with plans for a heather roofed courtyard. According to the planning application, major internal and external alterations to the property will also be made, which will see the demolition of its 20th century extensions. The plans to transform the 78-bedroom hotel were given the go-ahead by the Cairngorms National Park Authority.
4 • HOTEL SCOTLAND • APRIL 2017
Boatique hotel set to launch Edinburgh could have the country’s very first luxury static floating hotel if planners approve the conversion of the former Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) tender, MV Fingal, into a 23 bedroom hotel, which will berth permanently at the Prince of Wales Dock at Leith. Royal Yacht Enterprises, the trading company behind the Royal Yacht Britannia, plan to invest £3.5m transforming the ship into a ‘boatique’ hotel which is expected to open at Easter 2018. Plans include a wide range of luxury bedroom suites, cabins with private balconies, duplex apartments, and a stunning Presidential Suite. The hotel concept has been created by the Pedley Group and all the bedrooms will be named after Stevenson lighthouses nominated by the NLB. The interior design, say the company, has been inspired by
Fingal’s rich maritime history, blending the avant-garde expectations of discerning guests with the functional necessities of luxury retreats. Britannia’s Chief Executive Bob Downie said, “Having excelled in the visitor attraction market for nearly 20 years, we are very much looking forward to the challenges of operating in the luxury hotel market and the benefits it will generate for Britannia over the years to come”. One of the UK hospitality industry’s most eminent and respected figures, Peter Lederer, past UK Hotelier of the Year, and former Chairman of the Gleneagles Hotel said, “This new ‘boatique’ hotel has the potential to be the best hotel experience in Edinburgh, and given the quality of the Britannia experience, I am really looking forward to seeing a new benchmark in Scotland.”