Sonas Collection Announces Fourth Hotel Joining Portfolio Knipoch House Hotel, Oban, officially reopens as part of the Sonas boutique hotel group
The family owned Sonas Collection officially relaunched Knipoch House, the newest member of their boutique hotel group, with a grand opening gala on Friday attended by more than 50 officials, tourism and community leaders and members of the press.
With warm Highland hospitality, delicious fare showcasing Argyll’s rich larder, tours, lively games, charity raffles and dazzling entertainment, Owner and Director Anne Gracie-Gunn, Head of HR Jennifer Gracie, Group General Manager Andreas Maszczyk and the entire Sonas team pulled out all the stops for a glittering evening that truly demonstrated their motto, “Tha sonas na àite gun samhail,” or “Happiness is a unique place.”
Sonas was founded on Skye by Anne and her late husband Ken, who was from Oban, from their passion for sailing and desire to showcase the beauty of the Hebridean waters, the Gaelic language and culture through exceptional hospitality. The 26-bedroom hotel marks the fourth property for the Collection as the largest hotel and the first outside of the Isle of Skye.
“I, together with my highly skilled team at Sonas are truly delighted to be relaunching this wonderful property which I have admired from afar for many years,’ Anne said. “It is a perfect fit for our Skye based collection and will enable us to offer our guests yet another location to explore under the Sonas Brand.”
In thanking the attendees, Anne spoke of her 20 year journey that started with buying and renovating one run down hotel on Skye and now involves running four stylish family-run boutique hotels whose accolades include Scottish Hotelier of the Year and a Gold Laurel as one of Scotland’s ‘most visionary entrepreneurs.’
Knipoch, which was owned and run by the Craig family as a hotel since the 1980s, sits in an enviable location on the shores of scenic Loch Feochan six miles south of Oban. The elegant historic estate with so much potential had caught Anne’s eye, and one day when she and Andreas were discussing possible additions to their portfolio and looking at sales listings, it came up.
“Oh, that yellow hotel, that’s a nice place,” Anne mused. “Anyway, the rest is history.
We came down and had a wee look, and then another wee look, and that was it. We thought ‘this is a sleeping giant and we have to get this in the bag.’ When, on my journeys, I used to pass this lovely hotel, little did I think we’d be sitting here tonight.
“It has been a great pleasure to have worked alongside each of our skilled tradespeople to develop this well-known venue in Argyll and our staff have been so amazing. Through thick and thin they delivered all summer, and we are actually two and half years ahead of where we thought we would be.”
Within the past nine months Sonas Collection has invested over £1 million to reinvent this delightful, prestigious hotel with a complete renovation to the bedrooms, bathrooms, dining rooms, bar and lounge, with huge success. Dating back to the 1600s, the hotel retains its historic charm with original fireplaces, stone walls and wood panelling with all the modern comforts of super-king-sized beds, and opulent fittings.
Guests can enjoy amenities
The Sonas Collection began in 2003 with the intimate Skye gem, Toravaig. Owners, Ken and Anne operated the hotel as a perfect companion to the adventures they offered on their yacht Solus due to Ken’s nautical skills and Toravaig’s seaside location. As demand grew,