New company buys hotel upon NC500 route –and could purchase up to seven more

A new company has been formed to purchase hotels along the NC500 with the intention of upgrading them.

Highland Coast Hotels Ltd believes there is a gap in the market for high-quality accommodation along the tourist route.

The company sealed the deal on its first acquisition on Monday April 19 – the picturesque Kylesku Hotel.

Highland Coast Hotels Ltd is expected to shortly announce the takeover of another hotel in the same area and a further two on the east coast.

It says it also has opportunities to buy out an additional four hotels.

Company chief executive Roddy Watt believes there will be significant job opportunities as the intention is to keep the hotels open all year round.

He said: "We are responsible people who are setting out to create hopefully something special in the Highlands which will support local communities and supply chains along with others such as craftspeople and artists."

Mr Watt, an entrepreneur with some 30 years’ experience of starting, building and operating businesses in the hospitality sector, stated the new company was his idea and had been four years in the making.

He added: "A couple of planets aligned. There was a significant increase in tourist activity in the Highlands, triggered by the launch of NC500 in 2015.

"I also identified, with one or two notable exceptions, that the quality of hotels in that part of the work was suboptimal and many were under invested, creating a gap in the market around NC500.

"Our strategy is to acquire hotels and invest substantially in developing them by way of more bedrooms or extra restaurant, bar and other facilities.

"The Kylesku is our first hotel but another will follow and negotiations to take over two on the east coast will be completed in May.

"There is also the opportunity to acquire another three or four.

"That will effectively mean we will be creating substantial employment over the next five years.

"Most of the hotels have been seasonal but we will be in a position to offer more year round employment."

Mr Watt, who hails from Ballachulish and is based at Doune, Perthshire, continued: "The heart of our strategy is very much going to be our people, to provide real careers for the people that work for us.

"We also want to give our guests a wonderful experience but in a very authentic way by embedding them in the local community and landscape.

"Highland Coast Hotels is very much about promoting slow tourism and not whizzing around the NC500 at a rate of knots.

"We want to integrate into communities and will be reaching out to engage with local people.

"The environment and sustainability is also front and centre of what we are doing in order to reduce impact on the environment and enhance it."