Hotel bosses await revamp plan decision

Bosses at a Perthshire hotel hope a decision on £15 million expansion plans will be made before the end of the year.

Earlier this year, initial plans were revealed that include doubling the size of Murrayshall Country House Hotel and Golf Club and launching a hub for outdoor pursuits.

The development could bring 250 jobs to the popular venue, almost quadrupling the current workforce.

The proposals include a spa facility, golf training, an indoor sports building, outdoor sports grounds and a campsite.

Hotel bosses also hope to get permission for a range of new leisure facilities, holiday lodges and glamping pods.

General manager Gary Silock hopes a decision on a pre-application notice will be made before the end of the year.

While they await a decision, Mr Silock said work is continuing on detailed planning permission.

Murrayshall Country House at Scone has undergone a renovation of its existing 40 rooms, with more than £2.5m invested over the past four years.

Part of that investment was a rebranding, complete with new website.

Mr Silock said it is part of an effort to return Murrayshall to the luxury market.

He added: “There has been a repositioning from our side. We’re moving ourselves into the luxury market.

“The golf course has done very well – it is up to 690 members, which is fantastic.

“We set the budget here back in December not knowing what January and February were going to give us.

“We’ve hit all the rooms budgets every month since April that we had planned.”

The website rebranding was by digital agency Shine, who did similar work for the Torridon.

It is now one of the “goto” places to visit in the Highlands, Mr Silock said, and he hopes Murrayshall can follow suit in Perthshire.

“Murrayshall has been a landmark on the Scottish landscape for centuries,” he said.

“This is an important part of ambitious plans to transform the estate into one of Scotland’s prime visitor destinations and golfing centres.”

Mr Silock has been pleased with the way the venue has responded to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said they had hit occupancy targets since lockdown restrictions began to ease in April.

The general manager was also pleased that no staff had been made redundant despite Murrayshall being unable to operate at its full capacity for much of the past 18 months.

He said: “We’ve not made any redundancies. That is something we are very proud of.

“We obviously used furlough but we used the down time to keep investing and make the place better.”

GRAND DESIGNS: Murrayshall could double in size and add a raft of outdoor facilities.