Inside Hearts' new hotel, Vlad vision, how much money it will make and training ground plans

Andrew McKinlay turns his attentions to improving coaching facilities after taking great pride in Tynecastle Park Hotel launch
Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon gets comfy in one of the room's emperor beds.Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon gets comfy in one of the room's emperor beds.
Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon gets comfy in one of the room's emperor beds.

Hearts chief executive Andrew McKinlay cannot claim to be the pioneer for a hotel at Tynecastle Park, but he can take great satisfaction at it being delivered under his watch.

Nineteen years ago, then owner Vladimir Romanov first mooted the idea of a hotel at Hearts’ grand old stadium. The Russian banker took over the club in January 2005 and among some of his grand plans included swanky lodgings for visitors to Edinburgh on the site of a football arena. Like many of Romanov’s visions, it never materialised.

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Romanov’s rule was almost the death of Hearts, saved by Ann Budge, the Foundation of Hearts and the club’s loyal supporters from extinction in 2014. The reconstruction of the Jambos under their watch is perhaps encompassed by the impressive Main Stand that now stands proud at Tynecastle. Once derided for not having seats, it now has 25 plush bedrooms. Tynecastle Park Hotel is now open for business and is has proved popular with guests so far.

From left to right, head of hospitality and catering operations Graeme Pacitti, Gordon, Hearts chairman Ann Budge and Hearts chief executive Andrew McKinlay.From left to right, head of hospitality and catering operations Graeme Pacitti, Gordon, Hearts chairman Ann Budge and Hearts chief executive Andrew McKinlay.
From left to right, head of hospitality and catering operations Graeme Pacitti, Gordon, Hearts chairman Ann Budge and Hearts chief executive Andrew McKinlay.

“It just finishes off the Main Stand,” smiled McKinlay, speaking to a gaggle of journalists in one of the rooms. Minutes earlier, for a photoshoot, goalkeeper Craig Gordon had sprawled across its emperor bed that made even the 6ft 4in goalkeeper look quite small. It’s an impressive set-up. “The plan had been to have that done a few years back, but then Covid got in the way – for a number of reasons: financially, construction. It's been a real journey and it's fantastic to get to the day where it's open."

McKinlay was reminded that long-serving staff at Hearts had a real sense of deja-vu when proposals for a hotel were mooted once again. “I think it was [Hearts’ head of hospitality and catering operations] Graeme Pacitti, when he first arrived, he remembered a presentation that Fireworks Phil [Anderton, then chief executive] did, and it was all about the big plan, and this was the hotel. So apparently when Ann said that I am looking at a hotel, his response was 'I've heard all this stuff before'. So here we are, we've been able to do it. Fundamentally, the fact that we've been able to do it and have such a wonderful Main Stand, we're still at Tynecastle given all the chat that we would have to move somewhere else to do it, I think it's brilliant.”

Having a hotel within their stadium – the first of its kind in Britain – is not a vanity project from Hearts. It simply opens up another revenue stream. Every penny counts in Scottish football, particularly with rivals such as Aberdeen and Hibs getting investment from the US. Hearts are ahead of the Dons and their capital rivals on the pitch and want the same arrangement off it.

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"Since I've come to the club, we've spent a lot more on the football side of things,” said McKinlay, who took on the CEO role in August 2020. “That is seen quite clearly in the accounts. Let's face it, we'd just been demoted when I arrived and since then, we've obviously come back up, finished third, fourth – we'll see where we end up this season – but that hasn't happened by not putting a lot of money into the team, the salaries etc.

Hearts' Tynecastle Park Hotel is open for business and the Gorgie club hope to make millions in extra revenue from it.Hearts' Tynecastle Park Hotel is open for business and the Gorgie club hope to make millions in extra revenue from it.
Hearts' Tynecastle Park Hotel is open for business and the Gorgie club hope to make millions in extra revenue from it.

“But there's finite income. We've sold out the season tickets, so you can't sell any more season tickets. You only get a finite amount of prize money from the SPFL. It might go up a little bit but not a huge amount. And you can't guarantee every year that you are going to have European group-stage football, or do player trading. So you've got to look at other ways you can make money.

“We've got this brilliant asset here [Tynecastle] that is only used 25 days a year for football, roughly. So what are you doing with it for the other 340-odd days. We do have some events and we've got the restaurant, conferences, weddings, other things like that, but this just gives it an extra string to its bow. Not just about the hotel itself, but all the events and conferences. It's now more attractive to bring a conference here, a wedding here, so it should allow us to do a lot more on those days and make more money. And all that money goes back into the team. That's the philosophy behind it.

“I've got to, as a CEO, look to the long-term future and the sustainability of the club. I can't just be in the here and now. I think I said similarly around the shouts of 'just give Lawrence [Shankland, the team’s star striker] as much money as he wants'. The point I made there was I'll bankrupt the club in the future because everyone will want that money. We spent a good amount of money but it becomes a really important income stream for a lot of years to come in the future. So that definitely is the message. If you look at the turnover it has gone up steadily and we want to keep it going up steadily which will allow us to put what we spend on the playing side up which will hopefully improve the playing side and we will continue to have success.”

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Running a hotel is a costly business but given all of the infrastructure was already in place, such as catering, Hearts hope to make a sizeable amount each year. “You are talking in the millions every year,” revealed McKinlay. “What's difficult you will have the pure income from the hotel, it is the other extra income we get from everything else, extra conferences, extra events, extra weddings etc. I definitely think it will be worth in the millions for us going forward.”

With Tynecastle now at completion, McKinlay is asked what comes next for the club. “Well, nothing around the stadium,” he explained. “I'll get the shout 'fill in the corners'. The roof might fall in if we did it. The next big project is the training ground. I've been working on that for a long time and I'm still working on that. We are still five years out from our lease up at Oriam but I've already had some discussions with them about what is possible up there. Also looked at alternative sites but that's in the embryonic stage. But that is the next big project."

Hearts are settled at Oriam, Scotland’s Sports Performance Centre, and its Riccarton location on the outskirts of Edinburgh is handy for players and staff commuting in from the west. “The own site is more a backup if we can't get to where we want to get to with the Oriam,” added McKinlay. “That's our first preference. With the Oriam we are at the stage of looking at feasibility studies of what a better training facility at Oriam would look like, how we would fund that, and all these sorts of things. That is one of the focus areas this calendar year.”

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