By Scott Wright
A LUXURY hotel in Perthshire, which overcame the Covid crisis to complete an expansion project in time for the tourism season reopening in July, has revealed plans to invest further in the destination.
The five-star Old Manse of Blair, which is set amid a 10-acre estate in the Cairngorms National Park, has secured planning permission to add a further eight suites to the property in a walled garden, and has just submitted an application to add a further two.
Work on the suites, which represents an investment of more than £400,000, is due to start towards the end of the year. An opening date of April 2021 has been slated.
The plans come after the business unveiled seven new rooms, built in the grounds outside the historic Old Manse building, and a new farm shop and takeway just as the tourism industry reopened in the summer.
The owners had forged ahead with that project, worth “over six figures”, despite running into what director Anne MacDonald told The Herald was a “perfect storm”. The Covid crisis struck three weeks before building work was originally due to complete.
However, the investment is already paying dividends thanks in part to the popularity of staycations this summer. Revenue in August and September was reported by the hotel to be running 30 per cent ahead of the same period last year, even without the traditional boost brought by events, such as the Blair Horse Trails, cancelled this year.
The owners say the addition of rooms outside the main building has been well timed given the continuing requirement for social distancing.
Ms MacDonald collaborated with artist and designer Iona Crawford to create the interiors for the seven rooms, inspired by the heritage of the estate buildings and their equestrian connections. An eclectic art collection, including work by Scottish contemporary artists Gerard Burns and Georgina McMaster, is showcased throughout the property.
Ms MacDonald said: “We’ve had a great start and whilst we adjust to the new normal our team have been incredible in adapting. The new rooms have exceeded our expectations and are a welcome addition to the estate. It wasn’t easy, this has been a real challenge but the estate is looking fantastic.”
The MacDonald family purchased the estate in 2016 and took on the challenge of converting the listed building Old Manse, which was unoccupied and falling into disrepair. Since then they have restored the stone-built residential manse, which was built in 1828.
The manse relocated from the lawn of Blair Castle by order of the then Duke of Atholl in the mid-1700s.
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