Braemore moves into luxury short-term apartment letting

Published on Friday 12 January 2007 11:54

A CITY property company has unveiled plans to challenge the Capital's fashionable boutique hotels by expanding into short-term luxury apartment lets, backed by a £2.7 million investment.

Braemore Property Management has already invested 300,000 in two New Town properties which it plans to rent out to holidaymakers and businessmen and women on a short-term basis.

But it plans to buy up another ten properties this year to boost the available portfolio.

Braemore believes its VisitScotland five-star rated offering - at 15 and 15a Dundas Street - will revolutionise the letting market in Edinburgh by offering a two or three-bedroomed home in the city centre for around the same price per night as a boutique hotel room.

The firm plans to market the properties to Capital-based financial companies which regularly have executives who stay in Edinburgh on a short-term basis, and who may have wives or families to visit.

And Braemore plans to snap up a further ten properties by the end of next year, investing a total of 2.7m in the venture.

The two existing properties have undergone a 300,000 refurbishment from their previous state as commercial office premises and Braemore has budgeted to spend around 100,000 on each new property it takes on over the next year.

Director Colette Murphy said the company, which manages a portfolio of more than 800 properties in Edinburgh, is focused on an expansion strategy and believes the high-end short-term rental market is the next big growth area in the letting industry.

She said: "We had been looking for some time for an area that we could expand into without compromising the quality of our portfolio and it struck us that there was nothing to cater for high-end short-term lets in Edinburgh.

"It is a niche sector and with 15 and 15a Dundas Street we are now able to offer visitors to Edinburgh - which is now clearly a major destination spot - a hugely appealing alternative to hotel rooms, while also giving them complete independence during their stay."

She added: "We're confident there is a strong demand for luxury short-lets accommodation in Edinburgh.

"We plan to quickly add more Braemore-owned properties to the short-lets portfolio and potentially opening out the concept to our existing long-lease landlords. We'd look to have some ten luxury properties available as short lets by the end of 2007."

Braemore believes the flats will appeal to companies keen to save cash by letting properties only when they needed them, rather than on a permanent basis.

The luxury apartments, which were formerly used as offices by the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association, have been decorated by interior designer Jane Adams of Adams and Adams and include cutting-edge technological features such as iPod docking stations, flat screen TVs and DVD players in every bedroom.