The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Hotel’ s £150k makeover
Bosses at a Kinross hotel hope a £150,000 refurbishment will “take it to the next level” and allow it to compete with other golf retreats in the area.
Since last year, the Green Hotel has spent £108,000 to refurbish the front of house, restaurant and bar.
At the end of October, the corridors and guest bedrooms are next in line for a new look.
The Green Hotel expects the £150,000 refurbishment will be completed by spring next year.
Nick Kourie is operations director at Amity Hospitality, which took over management of the 46-bed hotel in 2019.
He hopes the new look will take the hotel into the four-star market.
He says: “We want to enhance the guest experience. We’ve already got a massive clientele, but we also want to attract new customers.
“The Green is uniquely positioned at the moment as a three-star offering with a 36-hole golf course, which is great for us, because we come in at that slightly lower price point, and golfers want variety.
“For us, it’s about enhancing the experience or our repeat customers, but also starting to compete with some of the four-star properties. That’s our vision.”
The hotel has already secured £30,000 of bookings in the past month.
By improving the experience at the hotel, Mr Kourie sees the Kinross golf resort compete with local giants like Gleneagles, Murrayshall and Dalmahoy.
Murrayshall has plans in the pipeline for a multimillion-pound extension.
Throughout the refurbishment, the hotel has employed local tradesmen and sourced all materials within Scotland.
The majority of guests at the Green Hotel come from Edinburgh and Glasgow, but the refurbishment has also been noticed by locals.
As one of Kinross’ largest hotels, Mr Kourie hopes they will turn to the Green Hotel.
He says: “We have got a good local stronghold.
“We like to think that we will do people’s christenings, their birthday parties, their engagement parties, their weddings and eventually their funerals.
“The hotel is a real centre of the local community, and we want to keep it that way.”
In addition to a new look, the hotel has also brought in a new general manager.
Garry Wood has come from being food and beverage manager at Crieff Hydro, where he worked for nine years.
He has also spent time at Rusacks in St Andrews.
Mr Kourie believes the new manager will further enhance the experience at the hotel.
He said: “He’s got the knowhow when it comes to that food and beverage offering.
“He’s been brought on board to enhance the service and the food offering.
“Tied in with the refurbishment, we’re hoping to take the hotel to that next level over the next 12 to 18 months.”