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Re: Tomdoun Hotel development

My objections duly lodged also.

Re: Tomdoun Hotel development

Objected.

Once a hotel gets turned into a private dwelling all the other tourist businesses - B7Bs & fishing ect, all suffer.

Once it's gone, it's gone for good.
:-(

Re: Tomdoun Hotel development

Done.

Re: Tomdoun Hotel development

Objection lodged.

Re: Tomdoun Hotel development

Posted objection.Passed info. around too.

Re: Tomdoun Hotel development

Done. I miss the place. Can't see how anybody will benefit if it becomes a house - well apart from the family in the house, when they turn up.

Re: Tomdoun Hotel development

Objection submitted.

Re: Tomdoun Hotel development

DONE!

Re: Tomdoun Hotel development

I shall certainly object - I do not wish to see the loss of another fine rural Highland hotel. However, supposing our objections are successful, how will this play out in practice?

Denied permission for a change of use, its new owners cannot use it as a private house - but can they be compelled to run it as a business? I suspect not, and I envisage one of two scensrios:-

1. It continues to stand empty and unused, until eventually it succumbs to fire like the Spittal of Glenshee Hotel and is lost for ever.

2. It is run as a very ideosyncratic hotel (even more ideosyncratic than previously); it will open for only a few weeks in each year (the weeks the owner happens to wish to be there); it will have only a restricted licence (because that's all they will apply for) and neoither the bar nor the dining room will be open to non-residents; and it will be utterly impossible to book accommodation because (a) they will never answer the telephone, and (b) all of the rooms will be booked by the friends and family of the owner as soon as the dates of opening are known. Anybody turning up on spec will find that there are no vacancies.

I don't mean to be a Jeremiah - but unless a "white knight" can be found who is willing to buy out the current owner at a price which the present owner is willing to accept, and run it as a hotel, then merely blockin gthe change of use will not get us our hotel back.

That having been said, whilst blocking change of use is not a sufficient condition for getting the hotel back on its feet, it is evidently a necessary condition. So we must attempt it. But we must not make hte mistake of equating victory in that particular battle with victory in the war. It is no more than a preliminary skirmish, I am afraid.

Re: Tomdoun Hotel development

I agree Jeremy. I have objected as a matter of hope over experience. However it is becoming ever more difficult to profitably run a small hotel of this size and particularly so in its relatively isolated position. Having spent much of a liftime in the leisure/hotel industry when I look at the likely numbers they are hard to stack up especially when you look at the probable refurbishment costs to bring the place up to customer expectation. Not impossible but tricky at the very least. A White Knight indeed is needed preferably with long pockets whose lifestyle choices would be met by running such a business. You make a good point about a restricted licence.

Re: Tomdoun Hotel development

Tick - done.
I agree Jeremy, it does feel hopeless, but my objection is duly lodged.

Re: Tomdoun Hotel development

I agree with Jeremy, Russ and Louise. My sister-in-law ran a successful boutique hotel in central Edinburgh for many years, with 90% occupancy year-round. And it was viciously hard work! Frankly, attempting to make profit from the Tomdoun's location would've been well-nigh impossible. The building started out as a late 19th century shooting-lodge, and in essence it'll return to it's original function. Frankly I don't see any harm in this.

If I was a B&B owner in the area I'd actually welcome this - more business coming my way.

The building was on the market since at least 2012, once the liquidators moved in. There would've been an opportunity then for possible community buy-out. But why would anyone go down that road? Or LRT?

Asking price was for offers over £250K. I guess that a kosher renovation would be four times that figure.

Nine rooms, £80 per room, 6-month season, 80% occupancy? Gross would be only £350K. You'd be lucky to clear £50K a year profit - would take you maybe twenty-five years to recover yr purchase price. Not happening, babes . . .

Moving right along . . . the F*chside Inn is an entirely different kettle of deep-fried Mars Bars, and we all welcome the resurgence. But here we've a property within 30 minutes of Aberdeen, with a plethora of new-build up-market housing within 500m. There's sufficient community numbers here here to sustain a vibrant (ouch!) howff, resto, coffee-shop, rooms, whatever.

And we - who make up a very small percentage of their demographic - can have fun.

Whereas with the Tomdoun locale we - together with fishers and their pals - are probably their only demographic. Give or take a few randoms who would happen to stray that way.

Apologies for this inordinately long post!

Re: Tomdoun Hotel development

I absolutely agree with the economic analysis here but the key issue to me is that the invitation to object came from the local community. I'm not sure what they have in mind but I suspect what they don't want is a large house that's shut up most of the year. As far as I recall, there's not many B&B's at that end of the glen.

Re: Tomdoun Hotel development

Humphrey has it spot on. When the Tomdoun closed I had a gander at the financial statements at Companies House. The place had been bleeding money for years. It is evident from its current state that not a penny had been spent on maintenance either. In reality it has no chance as a country hotel.

In East Anglia quite a few foundering pubs have been bought by the local community and turned into thriving community businesses. If such a project were put forward by local residents an objection to change of use might carry some weight. Alas, there is neither the population nor, I suspect, the willingness to invest the sums required to restore and run it. Thus I cannot see the rationale for objection.

It's a bit "dog in the manger" for residents to say that they don't want to invest in keeping it as a hotel, but would rather see it fall down than be restored as a private sporting lodge (which is, after all, exactly what it is).

I now prepare for

Re: Tomdoun Hotel development

The Tomdoun Hotel story reminds me a lot of The Moor of Rannoch Hotel which I've stayed at a number of times since my first Challenge in '95. Then it was spartan catering with no central heating and minimal dining but nevertheless a most welcome overnight halt which I'd seen recommended by Hamish Brown in his "Scotland Coast To Coast", the route I was partly following. On each subsequent visit to Rannoch the business appeared to have enjoyed a costly makeover and change of ownership. I asked one new proprietor that if I should pass by again in three years would he still be there and he said that he doubted it. With no passing trade, apart from the overnight Caledonian sleeper, it's a mystery how places such as these survive. I see on YouTube that the place was again for sale in 2013 for £475k.

Re: Tomdoun Hotel development

I've had direct experience of Restricted Licence, at a 'pub' in the middle of nowhere that offers food and drink between the hours of 1pm and 5pm, Saturdays only - with the added proviso that the pub may close from time to time.

What actually happened was the the new owners bought the place for use as their home but were bound to keep it running as a pub. They bought it for a song.

JJ

Re: Tomdoun Hotel development

I've objected too, although in despair rather than hope. Couldn't let it go without trying.

Re: Tomdoun Hotel development

Thanks for outlining the scenario's Jeremey,we all know the outcome
might be negative.But to do nothing will ony benifit the party wishing
for an easy ride through planning procedure.