Monday, January 28, 2013

Tough times for the hotel trade?

Last Friday the Inverness Courier ran an article about the sudden closure of the Windsor Hotel. They spoke to one or two people but didn't really get any closer to the specific reason or reasons for the closure. They did speak to folk about the history of the hotel though, details which make the closure of this landmark of the town's tourism and social scene even more poignant. 
The Courier spoke to former owner Rosemary Young who sold the hotel in 2008. Rosemary has her finger on the tourism pulse and perhaps we should be very concerned about a comment she made. She told the Courier: "It must be a sign of the times. There won't be any hotels left in Nairn at this rate."

3 comments:

Graisg said...

@ anon thanks, would need a comment from the horses mouth so to speak for that one. Cheers.

D.Ross said...

It is up for sale as leasehold (offers over £65,000), but also available as freehold.

Bruce & Co. solicitors linky

http://www.bruceandco.co.uk/property.php?propid=36589

You will also find two other hotels, another two shops, and various plots of land at Balmakeith up for sale! And thats as well as the ones that are obviously up for sale/closing down

When you start digging (google is your friend) you find that alot of Nairn is up for sale!

staycationer said...

There is a lot of gossip and rumour about what may have happened to the Windsor. One thing is certain: just like in most other sectors of the economy, a recession sorts out the well-run businesses from the not-so-good ones.

This is especially true in tourism. The hotels and B&Bs that offer quality accommodation, good service and decent value (and there are many in and around Nairn) are doing OK. The places that fail to deliver are losing customers and going down. Sadly it seems as if the Windsor was one of those which in recent times has been getting it wrong and losing trade as a result.

It's survival of the fittest, especially in these hard times.