Hotel owned by Sir Andy Murray plans expansion to cope with demand

Sir Andy Murray's luxury hotel has launched plans to build an extension to cope with soaring demand for afternoon tea.

Cromlix House, acquired by Scottish tennis ace Andy Murray in 2014, could be set to expand. Picture: Contributed.

Staff at Cromlix House, near the tennis star’s home town of Dunblane, have been flooded with bookings for the traditional British helping of tea with sandwiches, scones and cake.

The management now want to expand to the tearoom at the hotel to make room for customers looking to sample the afternoon treat as their existing facility is currently operating at “the limit of its space”.

Double Wimbledon champion Murray, 30, bought Cromlix House for £1.8 million in 2013 and it has won a string of awards since reopening the following year.

Plans were lodged with Stirling Council this week to create the new 270 square metre tearoom and to build another 27 rooms at the hotel.

In a document submitted to council planners, the hotel’s architects said: “Following the successful re-opening of Cromlix House Hotel in 2014 the business has gone from strength to strength and the hotel wishes to expand to meet growing demand in particular for Afternoon Tea.

“The hotel is currently running at the limit of its space and would like to build a modest extension in the garden setting to the rear of the hotel to compliment the original building as well as the recently added dining room conservatory.

“The proposals aim to sympathetically extend the hotel into the south-west facing garden setting to the rear to form a space which can be used for afternoon tea.”

The proposals also include an application for a new function suite and the additional rooms which will be constructed at a rundown walled garden in the grounds of the hotel.

The Cromlix design team told the council: “The garden rooms aim to give the now dilapidated walled garden a new lease of life by creating a unique and very special guest experience within the walled garden around the concept of the gardens original use as a fruit and vegetable garden for the main house.

“The new guest rooms in the garden will expand the variety of room the hotel can offer while being as desirable as the rooms in the existing hotel.”

Cromlix had announced last year that they intended to build a spa and gym as well as new staff accommodation as part of their expansion plans but have decided not to go ahead with those developments at present.

The planning applications have gone out to public consultation and officials at the local authority are expected to make a decision on them by June.

At peak season a suite at the Cromlix costs £595 a night while a standard double room is £385. The restaurant is overseen by Albert Roux, the Michelin-starred chef.

Afternoon tea costs £22.50 per person with a champagne option also available for an additional £10.

Cromlix has become the venue for Murray family gatherings. William Murray, Andy and Jamie Murray’s father, married his long-term partner at the hotel in 2016.

The 15 rooms and suites are named after some of Scotland’s most recognisable figures, including Sir Chris Hoy, Sir Alex Ferguson, Annie Lennox, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and William Wallace.

The hotel was originally a private residence before being converted in 1981, a century after it was built.

Murray bought it in an effort to attract more visitors to the area around his home town and to boost the local economy.

The property covers 34 acres and boasts a tennis court and practice wall finished in “Wimbledon green”.

It has twice won Scottish Hotel of the Year at the Hospitality Awards and earlier this year became one of only two Five Star Gold Country House Hotels in Scotland following a grading by VisitScotland.