Oban castle hotel put up as prize in lottery

Four Austrian tax advisers who stumbled across a small, dilapidated castle on the west coast of Scotland and turned it into a hotel are giving 350,000 people the chance to win it in an online raffle.

Tax and economy consultants Wolfgang Baldauf, Christian Kienzl, Johannes Reimeir and Klaus Nairz bought the rundown building in 1996 while on holiday. But having invested thousands of pounds into transforming it into a hotel, the four friends from Innsbruck in Tyrol say they have found running the B-listed hotel from such a distance too stressful.

Baldauf said: "If we put the hotel on the market in the usual way, it could take years to sell and we may not get the money we ask for. This way, not only do we ensure we get our money back but we give somebody else the chance of entering into a business that they otherwise might never have been able to."

The hotel, in Oban, has three floors with 17 bedrooms, and views over the Firth of Lorne. The owners claim there is no mortgage to pay, and the hotel has no other debts or hidden costs.

Tickets for the lottery can be bought only with a credit card, and the Austrians have stressed that no money will be debited from the cards until the last ticket has been sold.

Anyone wishing to enter the competition to win the castle can do so by visiting the website: www.kimberley-hotel.com/game