Showpiece city hotel bought in £75m deal
Former High School of Stirling enters a new phase
Stirling Highland Hotel has been purchased as part of the major acquisition of five hotels across the UK.
Newcastle-based hotel and bar operator Cairn Group has acquired the Stirling property plus others in County Durham, Harrogate, Cardiff and Brighton, adding 665 rooms to its now 3,000-room portfolio.
Cairn Group owns and operates 31 hotels, and over 30 bars and restaurants across the UK from its headquarters in Newcastle upon Tyne.
This most recent £75million acquisition marks the Group’s third of 2016, following a £101m refinance deal completed in May.
Stirling Highland Hotel was put up for sale earlier this year by The Hotel Collection group. Originally the former High School of Stirling, it now features 96 bedrooms plus a health club, squash court, restaurant, bar and six conference rooms.
The hotel also features an astronomical observatory which is still used by Stirling Astronomical Society.
The building dates back to 1852 when Colonel Hamilton Tovey-Tennent offered £1000 for the creation of an “improved Members of Plean Tartan Army (PTA) admit they are no stranger to a pint or two in their local pub The Clansman.
So they had plenty to chat about when they bumped into actor Scott Reid, better known as Methadone Mick from Still Game, during last weekend’s trip to London to see Scotland take on England at Wembley.
Comedy creation Mick, known for his striking pearly whites and encyclopaedic knowledge of all things weird and wonderful, is a regular in The Clansman in the fictional land of Craiglang.
However it was outside a central London cocktail bar that actor Scott bumped into the Tartan Army foot soldiers who were down south for the weekend’s 3-0 defeat.
Murray Kelly of PTA said:“I think more than 10,000 people have liked or shared the photo on Facebook. My nephew Gavin was down in London with us and he uploaded it. From there, somebody else must have put it on this‘Scottish Banter’page and it just took off.
“It was actually the Thursday night and we were just walking around Soho looking for a bar. Suddenly this boy starts chasing after us and shouting on us.
“He must have just seen that we were Tartan Army and wanted to speak to us.
“None of us recognised him. He then said he was an actor and was Methadone Mick in Still Game. We didn’t believe him at first as he looks totally different without the big teeth in.
“So we asked him to prove it and he started doing the impression — at that point, we knew.
“He had been drinking in a cocktail bar and wasn’t actually going to the game.
“I think he was just down there for some acting work.”
Scott, originally from Paisley, has earned plaudits for his portrayal of the eccentric Methadone Mick in the latest series of the BBC 1 comedy, which drew to a close on Friday.
Murray and his fellow Tartan Army foot soldiers flew back north on Saturday night and made good on their promise to return to their favourite haunt no matter the result.
“We were back a bit earlier than we expected — just after 10 o’clock — so we went straight to The Clansman”, he added.
“When we were down in London, we invited Scott up to the pub and he said he would definitely pop in as Methadone Mick the next time he was in Scotland for a meet and greet, so we’re looking forward to that.” school house” for the town. The foundation stone was laid in 1854 and the new High School of Stirling moved into its premises on the site in 1856.
Between 1886 and 1890 a new wing tower was added on Spitall Street, incorporating a 16th century gateway brought from the remains of Stirling’s royal mint.
The observatory on top was paid for by local MP Henry Campbell-Bannerman, who would go on to be Prime Minister in 1905, and naturalist Laurence Puller from Bridge of Allan.
In 1908, a new primary school wing was added where the hotel’s health club and gym are now to be found.
In 1962, the High School moved to a new campus and the building was an archive office for Central Region for many years and a store for the education department before being taken over by Highland Hotels in 1991.
Cairn Group finance director Richard Warren said: “Each of the hotels are completely unique and operating successfully. We see huge potential for them within the Cairn Group portfolio as we expand our coverage into new areas, offering a truly national choice for our customers.”
Savills and Rothschild jointly advised on the sale of the hotels.
Martin Rogers, head of UK hotel transactions at Savills, added: “We are delighted to have secured new ownership for these five outstanding hotels.
‘The unique character of each hotel and their unrivalled locations ensure they are profitable business, attracting visitors all year round.”