A FAMILY-run north Highland hotel that occupies an unusual site has been put up for sale for the first time in more than half a century.
Mackays Hotel on Ebenezer Place in Wick, Caithness, is currently owned and operated by Murray and Ellie Lamont, the third generation of the Lamont family to have been caretakers for the hotel for decades.
Ebenezer Place is said to be the world’s shortest street at just six feet, nine inches long.
Mackays has been a leading accommodation provider and a cornerstone of local community life in Caithness for over six decades since being purchased by the first family member in 1955, Murray Lamont’s maternal grandmother.
The award-winning hotel is located on the North Coast 500, has 30 en-suite modern bedrooms, supports around 30 jobs and welcomes around 54,000 global visitors to the North Highlands each year.
Mackays Hotel also has a selection of six self-catering apartments as well as providing exclusive events spaces for weddings, corporate events, meetings, private functions and other special occasions.
Mr and Mrs Lamont took over the management of Mackays Hotel in 1983 and went on to purchase the property from the rest of the family in the 1990s.
Murray Lamont, current owner of Mackays Hotel, said: “We’ve always prided ourselves on our warm Highland welcome to guests from across the world every single year and have some very happy memories from our time as owners of the hotel since the 1990s.
"We now feel the time is right to hand over the reins of Mackays Hotel to new owners who we hope are as passionate about Wick, Caithness and north Highland life as we are.”
During the 2020 lockdown, the Lamont family worked with Royal British Legion Scotland project to provide Caithness veterans and pensioners with regular hot meals and companionship whilst self-isolating at home, as well as a meals on wheels home delivery service for people in and around Wick.
Accommodation was also donated to the NHS providing accommodation to doctors seconded to Caithness General Hospital.
The "unique" sale also presents buyers with the opportunity to develop the hotel’s grain store, which previously had planning permission for a new three-story extension with the potential to add further bedrooms.
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