BBC series to transform remote Scottish island mansion into boutique hotel

A derelict mansion on a remote Scottish island is set to be transformed into a boutique hotel as part of a BBC Scotland series that started filming this month.

In an upcoming six-part TV show from Hello Halo production, interior designer Banjo Beale and husband Ro will convert an abandoned house on the Isle of Ulva in Scotland into a hospitality destination.

Titled Banjo and Ro’s Grand Island Hotel, the show will follow the couple settling into life on the island, which is home to just 14 residents, down from 800 at its peak in the 1850s.

Located 150m off the west coast of the Isle of Mull, the island is famed for the now crumbling Ulva House, a former Regency home that was also the residence of an early governor of New South Wales, Australia, Lachlan Macquarie.

The abandoned house was bought by the local community in 2018 and will now be reimagined by the couple, who relocated to Ulva for the development.

Banjo said: “This is my biggest project yet with an absolute nightmare of a client – myself. Ro and I have officially lost the plot. We’re going to try and rescue a crumbling, abandoned manor on the wild and windswept Isle of Ulva. With 16 residents, no roads and no clue how we’re going to pull it off, it’s going to be my boldest and muddiest adventure yet. There’ll be midges, madness and hopefully a miracle or two.”

Ro added: “I thought we were just here for a quiet escape, next thing I know, I’m knee-deep in filth, chasing pigs out of the hallway and somehow in charge of sourcing vintage chandelier crystals from 1855. Banjo calls it a vision; I call it grounds for divorce.”

Steve Allen, BBC Scotland’s executive producer, said: “Banjo and Ro’s Island Grand Hotel, the duo’s biggest design challenge to date, will provide pure escapism for our audiences. Combining the nation’s love of interior design and renovation, this series will be full of emotion, skill and heart. Set amongst a stunning Hebrides backdrop, the weather might not always be warm but the welcome to Ulva will be.”

Filming will last from June into October and the programme is expected to air in 2026.