By Ian McConnell
The historic Tongue Hotel has been bought by Highland Coast Hotels from David and Lorraine Hook.
Built in the mid-1800s when it was owned by the Duke of Sutherland, the 19-bedroom Tongue Hotel is a former sporting lodge in the village of Tongue. It overlooks the Kyle of Tongue, Ben Loyal, and the Viking-built Castle Varrich,
The acquisition comes hard on the heels of Highland Coast Hotels’ purchase of the Plockton Inn.
Highland Coast Hotels also owns the Kylesku Hotel, and the Newton Lodge in Unapool, the Royal Golf Hotel in Dornoch, and the Royal Marine Hotel in Brora.
It said: “The group now has hotels located from east to west, and north to south in the North Highlands, providing high-quality hospitality right around the region and the North Coast 500 in particular.
“Having acquired Tongue hotel, HCH has the NC500 route well covered and the company’s focus will now turn to further raising the quality and range of experiences which its guests can enjoy.”
The Tongue Hotel will retain its name within Highland Coast Hotels, which is owned by a group of shareholder-directors and private equity company Kings Park Capital. There are plans for a full refurbishment of all public areas, including the Brass Tap Bar, and a “light” refurbishment of the bedrooms.
Highland Coast Hotels chairman, David Whiteford said: “We are delighted to be acquiring The Tongue Hotel and building on the work of previous custodians of such an historic and unique hotel. I very much look forward to the Highland Coast team becoming part of the Tongue community as we place even further emphasis on investing back into the local economy by creating more careers and business opportunities in the area.
“We are acutely aware that the hotel is held in great affection by both guests and the close-knit local community, and this is a responsibility we take very seriously as we develop our plans for the years to come. We are grateful for the continued support of the Scottish National Investment Bank which helped make the acquisition possible.”
David and Lorraine Hook said: “We have had a wonderful 15 years at The Tongue Hotel and are incredibly proud of everything we achieved, however it’s now time for us to pass the baton onto Highland Coast Hotels. Thank you to those who have supported us, from our always-enthusiastic team, to loyal guests and the local community in Tongue. We are reassured that you will be well-looked after by Highland Coast Hotels. Having worked closely with the team over the last year, we are sure that the group will only build on our successes and we look forward to seeing what the future holds for the hotel.”
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