Lakeland hotelier buys the Gables hotel in Gretna Green
A Lakeland hotelier with experience of breathing new life into properties plans to make improvements to his latest purchase - the four-star, 31-bedroom Gables hotel in Gretna.
Alastair Rushton, owner of the 15-bedroom bed and breakfast property Ellerthwaite Lodge in Windermere, bought the hotel from the administration of McKever Hotels, for an undisclosed price.
McKever Hotels, which operated 10 properties in Scotland and northern England, went into administration in June 2009. It had bought the Gables in 2008 for a reported £2m from private owner Ailsa Waggot and her daughter Carol Roberts.
Rushton has previously owned and improved the Knoll Country House Hotel at the southern tip of Lake Windermere and the Lonsdale House Hotel in Ulverston which he sold in 2001 and 2007 respectively.
"The Gables is being re-established as a major weddings destination and high quality hotel and restaurant," said Rushton. "It combines a magnificent location with a traditional family feel and fine architecture.
"I'm determined to invest whatever it takes to make it into an even more attractive hotel providing the best that Scottish hospitality has to offer."
Built around 1918, the Gables hosts weddings for up to 150 guests from all over the UK and overseas.
McKever Hotels buys property in Gretna Green >>
Windermere B&B changes hands >>
By Janet Harmer
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