Historic Scottish hotel with link to Bonnie Prince Charlie hits market for £3.75m as part of major sale process

One of Scotland’s oldest and most historic hotels has hit the market with a price tag of almost £3.8 million.

Perth’s famous Salutation Hotel, which has roots as a coaching inn stretching back to 1699, is among eight establishments that have been put up for potential sale after the recent administration of hotel business Strathmore Hotels.

Specialist business property adviser Christie & Co has been instructed by joint administrators James Dewar and Alistair McAlinden of Interpath to market the hotels, which are located across Scotland and the north of England.

Perth's famous Salutation Hotel’s current listed structure dates back to around 1810 but the location has roots as a coaching inn stretching back to 1699.

Property experts said the hotels benefited from established trading positions within popular leisure and tourism destinations and provided a range of “value-add opportunities” through refurbishment, repositioning and active asset management.

The Salutation Hotel’s current listed structure dates back to around 1810. Prior to that, on December 31 1745, a belated 25th birthday party for Bonnie Prince Charlie was held at the hotel. The building’s facade features distinctive painted Black Watch figures. It is now on the market freehold with an asking price of £3.75m.

Strathmore Hotels also owned and operated the Alexandra Hotel in Fort William, the Ben Nevis Hotel & Leisure Club in Fort William, the Ben Wyvis Hotel in Strathpeffer, the Nethybridge Hotel near Aviemore, the Royal Hotel in Oban, the Cairn Hotel in Harrogate and the Cumbria Grand Hotel in the Lake District.

The Alexandra is on the market freehold with an asking price of £5.75m, the Ben Nevis freehold with an asking price of £6.5m, Ben Wyvis freehold with an asking price of £3.65m, Nethybridge freehold with an asking price of £1.75m and Royal Hotel freehold with an asking price of £4.85m.

The Nethybridge Hotel near Aviemore is also part of the sales process.

South of the Border, the Cairn Hotel is on the market leasehold with an asking price of £6m, while the Cumbria Grand is freehold with a £2.75m price tag.

The assets are being offered for sale as a portfolio, in part portfolios or on an individual basis and are expected to attract interest from a broad range of hotel operators, investors and hospitality groups, according to Christie & Co.

Brian Sheldon, regional director, hospitality at Christie & Co, who is managing the sale process, said: “We are delighted to be acting on behalf of the joint administrators from Interpath, to market the eight hotels which form part of Strathmore Hotels Limited. We look forward to officially launching the sales process very soon and gauging from the initial enquiries we have received to date, we anticipate being very busy.”

McAlinden of Interpath added: “We are pleased to be able to bring this very well-established portfolio of hotels to the market as a going concern - and we are heartened by the significant level of interest expressed in the portfolio already.”

In August, it emerged that Strathmore Hotels had fallen into administration. The joint administrators said the company had been under sustained creditor pressure for a number of months, resulting in it being subject to a winding up petition in July.

Six Scottish hotels at risk as group employing 410 people plunged into administration