‘Losses will be story of year’
THE five-star Pool House Hotel in Poolewe in the Highlands is one of many smaller luxury hotels in Scotland that has battled ongoing costs and zero money coming in.
The bustling summer season has been destroyed and it can hope for, at most, 12 weeks of business at reduced capacity.
Owner Elizabeth Miles said it was impossible to take on bookings while the provisional opening date of July 15 was not set in stone. She said that local people have been extremely nervous about any influx of tourists, as the remote Wester Ross area has managed to escape the ravages of coronavirus up to now.
She said: “Scotland is one of the most beautiful countries in the world but it’s not that inviting for Europeans who might have to quarantine for two weeks.
“We haven’t known how to go about new bookings, as the situation is not solid, but we have provisional bookings for July 23. We haven’t felt able to commit to any advertising because we don’t quite know where we are with coronavirus and movement of people.
“What we might get is about six people maximum until October and the season tends to end then in any case.
“We have been running at a significant loss, like other hotels, and losses will be the story of the year for everyone.”
The Pool House was intending to convert to a a museum after this season, with bookings coming from regular guests over the past 20 years, but those plans have now been delayed by a year.