Four-star revamp for Scots hotel

AN IRISH hotels tycoon has been lured out of retirement to snap up a second property in Pitlochry in a £3 million deal.

Fionn MacCumhaill, managing director and majority shareholder of the Castle Hotel Group, bought the 130-bedroom Fisher's Hotel from LaSalle Investment Management, part of global property firm Jones Lang LaSalle.

Castle, which already owns the historic Atholl Palace Hotel in Pitlochry, now plans to spend a further 3m taking Fisher's from three-star to four-star status.

Eighty of the bedrooms have been closed to undergo a refit, with a new heating system being installed, along with changes to the kitchen and gardens.

MacCumhaill said: "I came out of retirement to buy this hotel because I didn't want to see it deteriorate in the middle of Pitlochry. It's a gorgeous hotel, it just never got the right attention. We're going to convert it into a bright, cheery, happy place; we'll give it a new lease of life.

"I am very proud of what has been achieved at the Atholl Palace, it's a hotel very close to my heart and I hope to achieve something similarly impressive with Fisher's, as well as bringing extra jobs and investment to Highland Perthshire."

Famous guests at Fisher's have included writer Robert Louis Stevenson and prime minister William Gladstone.