Indian hotel tycoon tells of love for Lochaber landscape
In an exclusive interview with the Lochaber Times, Indian hotel tycoons Sanjay Narang and his sister, Rachna, tell how they fell in love with the western Highlands and why they bought three local hotels on the spur of the moment.
The road along the side of Loch Garry is remote at the best of times, but with the heavy covering of snow that fell recently, it made the trip more like a journey across the Arctic.
A freezing white mist hung over the dark waters of the loch, shrouding the pine trees in a winter wonderland cloak like something from a Christmas card.
It was easy to see why millionnaire Mumbai businessman Sanjay Narang and his sister, Rachna, fell in love with the area.
In fact they liked it to so much they each bought a house along the loch shore a year ago, complete with more than 200 acres of land, from where they can oversee the transformation of the three Highland hotels they have also now bought for £3million.
Not many have the financial clout that, on experiencing a disappointing stay in a hotel, can just buy three of them with the aim of providing a better service.
But paying £140 a night for what he claimed were dirty rooms, cold water in the shower and microwaved meals served by a carpenter did not impress Mr Narang and he was going to do something about it.
And that is how the Narangs came to own the Cluanie Inn at Glenmoriston, which retains its name; Letterfinlay Lodge, near Spean Bridge, which has been rechristened as The Whispering Pine Lodge, and Craigard House at Invergarry, which becomes Rokeby Manor.
The three hotels, which are scheduled to reopen this spring, are now part of the Mars Group’s Black Sheep Hotels division – however Mr Narang stresses the hotel that provided such a disappointing experience is not among them.
The businesses changed owners last May but did not close for total refurbishment until October 1 as bookings had to be honoured.
Since then, however, workmen have been working almost round the clock as part of a near £7 million refurbishment, rebranding and new extensions.
Educated at a school in the Himalayas, Mr Narang studied hotel management at Cornell University in the United States and established the Mars Group in 1991 - it is now a major force in the food and hospitality industry in India.
Rachna, who also studied at Cornell University, is responsible for designing all Mars hotels and restaurants from commencement.
He told the Lochaber Times it was last winter that he and Rachna came to the Highlands looking to buy somewhere for a house that could be the focal point of a new village development built in the traditional style.
‘We came in the November looking for somewhere in the mountains where we could create a house.
‘We basically love mountains and were talking to some people in the government. We said we were looking somewhere remote and that it must have a loch, because that what Scotland all about, and have snow in the winters,’ Mr Narang told us.
Government officials introduced the couple to an expert on Highland mountain regions and a year ago they started to whittle down a shortlist that would meet the Narangs’ criteria for a Highland home.
‘We started driving up to the Highlands, and going up on A87 to Cluanie we were thinking, ‘‘oh my goodness, this just unbelievable’’.
‘So we were trying to find some land and had approached the forestry authority to see if it had any parcels of land it might be willing to sell.
‘It was while we were waiting to hear from them that we found the house just along from this one, on Airbnb, and which we rented for a couple of days.
‘We’d arrived late at night, along a road covered in snow that seemed to go on forever. It was pitch black when we
arrived, we couldn’t see a thing, and when we got up at 7am the next day, it was still pitch black.
‘But when the sun came up...it was simply breathtaking. We both just loved it.’
It was while speaking to the caretaker that the couple discovered the house they had rented was for sale.
As a result, the owners were contacted and a deal struck for Rachna to purchase the property as a home.
Mr Narang then ended up buying the house farther along the lochside after an agreement was made to also buy it and the 220 accompanying acres of land.
‘So we bought this as well and that’s how we ended up with these two houses in this incredible spot,’ he said, adding that the idea of a new village was not something he had earmarked for this spot.
Brother and sister then started visiting their new homes in the Highlands from their London base on a regular basis last year and it was stopping off at a hotel and the resulting poor experience that proved the catalyst for their latest foray into the hotels’ market.
‘I started realising there was definitely a market here and so much business. The three hotels are being renovated almost from scratch.
‘They were just nowhere near their potential, so we thought let’s try and see what we can do.
‘Our business is hospitality. We built a small resort in the Himalayas which people told us would never make money but has been a real success story.’
With a management team of several decades’ experience overseeing the day-today operations of the Mars Group back in India, Mr Narang says he has the time to get involved in something new – hence the purchase of the hotels.
With modern staff accommodation costing more than £1million, and employees paid attractive salary packages, the Narangs hope to mainly recruit locally for their hotel workforces.
‘We have a concept which is value for money – many people on hearing that think it means to be cheap but thats not true.
‘The standard of accommodation is important as is the quality of the food, but it is more than that which determines if a hotel is a place people will return to – it is the over-all service you give people. That’s what will draw them back time and time again.’
And the couple revealed they will be interested in expanding their new Highland hotel venture with the purchase of other properties if these initial three prove successful.
‘There are a large number of hotels in the Highlands which were bought as lifestyle choices; people from England nearing retirement and wanting to find a way to live in the Highlands.
‘Their hotels are open for six months and then shut over the winter with little funding available for improvements or a background in the hospitality sector . So we would look at expanding organically with a view to acquiring hotels of that nature.’
As for what people can expect when they enter the refurbished hotels, Ms Narang, as the person responsible for the interior style, says each of the three properties will have its own unique look.
‘It won’t be all typical Outlander/ Braveheart-inspired decor, all tartan carpets and stags heads on the wall,’ she said.
‘We want to showcase all the history and culture of the Highlands and Scotland, the great Scots of the Enlightenment, Burns, great inventions,’ she explained.
‘Cluanie, given its remote location, will have a more rustic and outdoor feel, while Letterfinlay will have a traditional hunting lodge flavour, but done in a more charming way.
‘Each will have its own unique feel.’