Altnaharrie Inn to become private home
One of Scotland's best restaurants has been sold and is to be turned into a private home after being on the market for a year.
The Altnaharrie Inn in Ross-shire, which was a two-star Michelin restaurant and hotel run by Gunn Eriksen and Fred Brown, has been sold for more than £500,000 and continues a trend for converting hotels into private houses.
Over the last few years Auchterarder House near Gleneagles, Farleyer House near Aberfeldy, Arisaig House at Arisaig, and Michael's Nook in Grasmere 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.