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New Lochardil hotel owner pledges to make investment


By Calum MacLeod

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Lochardil House Hotel
Lochardil House Hotel

NEW owners of a well established Inverness hotel have promised more investment to make it even more attractive to visitors.

Lochardil House Hotel has become the second mainland hotel bought by Skye-based Perle Hotels and the group has been advertising for staff to get ready for the summer.

The Victorian mansion, which was built in 1876 as the home of Inverness MP Charles Fraser-Mackintosh, has been a hotel since 1956.

It was previously owned by Eileen Fraser, who bought the hotel in 1986. More recently she has expanded the hotel with the addition of a purpose-built banqueting suite, a conservatory restaurant, new kitchens and a separate 16 bedroom garden wing, more than doubling its accommodation provision.

Perle Hotels marketing manager Nina Ghita said the group wanted to build on the hotel’s heritage and had no plans to change its name.

“We want to keep those unique quirks and the history. Those are really important, but there are always things that can be improved,” she said.

“We focus on the Highlands and Islands and we invest quite heavily into the hotels, provide more jobs and just try and make something special within the area. The same thing will be happening with Lochardil. Obviously the hotel is in a really good position as it is. We don’t have any concrete plans as yet, but there will be heavy investment down the road.”

Unlike the group’s previous hotels, which required major renovations, she does not anticipate anything so drastic. There are no immediate plans to add other north hotels to the group, but Ms Ghita pointed out there were opportunities available all the time.

“We are a growing company,” she said. “There will be future expansion plans but nothing concrete at the moment.”


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