Altnaharrie Inn joins growing list of decommissioned hotels
Another of Scotland's prestigious hotels is to be turned into a private home following a year on the market.
The Altnaharrie Inn near Ullapool, Ross-shire, which was a two-Michelin-starred restaurant and hotel run by Gunn Eriksen and Fred Brown, has been sold for more than £500,000.
The hotel and restaurant, which is accessible only by boat, closed last year after Eriksen developed a back problem. It is understood that the couple have since retired.
It is the latest in a string of hotels being bought to convert to private dwellings. In the past few years Auchterarder House near Gleneagles, Perthshire; Farleyer House near Aberfeldy, Perthshire; Arisaig House at Arisaig, Inverness-shire; and Michael's Nook in Grasmere, Cumbria, have all been converted from hotels to private homes.
The trend is reflected in the dramatically reduced number of hotels across the UK. In 1994 there were 14,015 hotels registered for VAT, and this figure has fallen to 9,840 in 2002. Over the same period the number of restaurants has risen from 45,570 to 47,870 and the number of pubs from 44,560 to 45,615.
According to the pressure group, Forum of Private Business (FPB), hotels in Scotland pay 23% more in business rates than their English counterparts. Bill Anderson, campaigns manager for FPB Scotland, said: "Scottish hotels are not competing on a level playing field, and we are calling for action to reduce the rates burden and help make Scotland's tourism industry more economically viable."
