The Glenburn Hotel: Landmark hotel that towers over island bay bought out of administration

A landmark hotel on the Isle of Bute has been bought out of administration.

The Glenburn Hotel, which towers over in Rothesay bay, has been bought by Bespoke Hotels for an undisclosed sum. It adds to Bespoke’s portfolio of 90 hotels in the UK, including 23 in Scotland.

Built in 1843 and sited on a prominent hilltop location, the Glenburn Hotel opened as a classic grand seaside hotel in 1892 aimed at an affluent client base who were offered a lavish holiday experience.

The hotel was extensively refurbished in 2016 and features 134 guest rooms, ballroom, restaurants, bars, terrace, conference facilities and extensive terraced gardens.

Built in 1843 and sited on a prominent hilltop location, the Glenburn Hotel opened as a classic grand seaside hotel in 1892 aimed at an affluent client base.

The hotel filed for administration last August, having been closed since November 2020, with staff initially being placed on furlough.

Haydn Fentum, Bespoke Hotels’ chairman, said: “We are delighted to have agreed a deal with FRP to acquire the Glenburn Hotel and look forward to integrating it into our expanding portfolio. We hope to reopen the hotel very soon and have exciting plans to invest in the business and create new jobs and will be announcing our recruitment plans in due course.”

Stuart Robb and Chad Griffin, partners with FRP Advisory, were responsible for the sale.

Robb said: “We are very pleased to have sold the Glenburn Hotel, which is one of Scotland’s most prominent hotels with a long history stretching back to its opening as a grand seaside hotel in 1892. We wish Bespoke Hotels every success with the Glenburn Hotel and look forward to seeing the hotel reopen.”

CDLH acted for the joint administrators as selling agent for the hotel.

Alan Creevy, director of CDLH, said: “As expected, there was a great deal of interest in the property resulting in a competitive bidding process. Bespoke Hotels were a pleasure to deal with throughout the sale process and we wish them the very best of success with this delightful property.”

The hotel was popular with package holiday businesses and independent travellers, many of whom would return regularly.

The administration had been caused by significant operating costs, coupled with a fall in revenue due to the pandemic while still having to meet significant maintenance and running costs.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription: www.scotsman.com/subscriptions