Am Bratach No. 189
July 2007
fiona@bratach.co.uk

Well known hotel changes hands

Tongue Hotel, overlooking Castle Bharraich and the Kyle of Tongue, has changed owners, writes FIONA BURNETT. New proprietors, David and Lorraine Hook, have acquired the 19-bedroom hotel from conglomerate, Ormack 500, which owns Scottish Selection Hotels, for a “substantial amount of money”.

The hotel, originally built as a hunting lodge for the Duke of Sutherland in the late 1800s, has won awards at The Scottish Hotels Of The Year Awards 2007and currently holds the Scottish Hotel Housekeeper Medals 2007 award, attributed to staff member, Tracy MacLeod, and Small Country Hotel Commendation 2007. It also carries a 5-star commendation from the Scottish Tourist Board.
David, from Canterbury, is a former director of building services company, Halsion Ltd, while Coventry-born Lorraine was a specialist nurse in a renal transplant unit for fifteen years. They admit to having no experience of the hotel trade. “We have literally jumped in with both feet,”says Lorraine.

David, who helped establish Halsion Ltd in 1996, was an apprentice electrician at sixteen who worked his way up to became a company director. “There were four of us and in the last year the turnover was £30million. That was another reason for coming up and doing a business venture because I think we got as far as we could with building services. I’d never be managing director or chairman of the company.”

Both believe that certain skills from their previous jobs will stand them in good stead. “There are transferable skills without a doubt,” said Lorraine, adding, “Being able to talk to people on a one-to-one basis and actually being interested in people and the desire to look after them and make sure that everything’s all right for them.”

The couple are full of praise for their twenty-three staff, who have successfully carried them through their first few weeks. Sarah Jane Fox, manager, and assistant manager Karen Robertson, ran the hotel before the change-over. “They were self-sufficient running the hotel for their previous employer. So therefore the only people who don’t know what they’re doing is us two!” said Lorraine.

At present the hotel closes for the winter with the public bar remaining open. Next year, the couple may open all the year round, but this coming winter they will remain closed owing to refurbishment work in the pipeline.

“While we welcome and encourage tourists, we also want to welcome our locals,” commented Lorraine.