A HOTEL in Aberdeenshire has been put up for sale after falling into liquidation amid surging energy prices, with offers over £395,000 sought.
UK property firm Graham + Sibbald said it had been instructed by Michael J M Reid of Meston Reid & Co, as liquidator of S J Inns Ltd, to market for sale the Douglas Arms Hotel on High Street in Banchory.
The property agent described it as “a wonderful opportunity to acquire and re-establish this once busy hostelry in a very popular locality”.
It added: “Following on from the problematic and difficult trading conditions, for two years, during the Covid pandemic, the significant increase in energy costs, pre-Christmas 2022, made the trading business unsustainable, which signalled the decision [to] place the business into a voluntary liquidation process.”
READ MORE: Ian McConnell: ‘Oops’ moment - admission of big Tory mistake
The Douglas Arms Hotel has eight letting bedrooms with a lounge bar-bistro and café bar. The hotel also has an outdoor balcony/terrace, and the former lounge bar/restaurant.
A four-room private flat is included in the sale.
Graham + Sibbald declared the new owners of the Douglas Arms Hotel “have the opportunity to re-establish the hotel as a good owner-driven, local, hotel business”.
READ MORE: Scottish income tax – so who is afraid of the bogeyman?
It added: “The Douglas Arms Hotel has a prominent main street location on Banchory’s High Street. The hotel can attract many passers-by on the main A93 Aberdeen to Balmoral and Braemar Road, and it has enjoyed the patronage from locals, visiting fishermen, tourists and golfers, as well as a range of commercial custom.”
READ MORE: Denial after denial from brass-necked Tory arch-Brexiter
Alistair Letham, a hotel and leisure consultant with Graham + Sibbald, said: “The increase of the energy costs was the final-straw before deciding on the voluntary liquidation but this offers new owners a fantastic opportunity to develop and re-establish the Douglas Arms Hotel as a thriving business, of appeal to locals and visitors, alike. The inclusion of a four-room private flat is ideal for resident owners. Royal Deeside has perennially been a popular destination; maybe even more so now. The Douglas Arms Hotel with its prominent High Street position is well placed to reap the benefits of both its town centre and main Deeside Road location.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel