McKays Hotel Bar and Restaurant in Pitlochry, which is part of the Turas Hotels group, has completed a £250,000 conversion of a former Italian café on Atholl Road to create McKays Townhouse.
The new Townhouse, which sits directly across the road from the main hotel, includes seven en-suite bedrooms across the top two floors of the original Victorian building, along with two luxury self-catering apartments on the ground and basement levels. It follows a £1.25 million investment in 2020 to expand the main hotel with 12 additional bedrooms and a 100-seat function suite.
“It has been an incredible journey,” said McKays Co-Owner, Richard Drummond.
“With McKays developing into more rooms and a much bigger food and beverage business, we decided to convert the cafe into rooms because we felt there was demand for more up-market self-catering accommodation in Pitlochry and we wanted The Townhouse to offer something slightly different to the rest of McKays.
“I am really proud of what we’ve achieved.”
“As a business, we are always looking to invest and improve and that is the same philosophy across the whole Turas Hotels portfolio,” said Mr Drummond.
“Pitlochry, as a town, punches above its weight. It is a great hub for tourists to come and that encourages businesses to invest.
“What is magic about Pitlochry is that you get tourists from Glasgow, Edinburgh and down south but, equally, you’ll be welcoming guests from Brazil.
“In terms of McKays Townhouse, the apartments in particular are more likely to appeal to those who want to stay for 3 or 4 days rather than 1 or 2 nights.
“We like to exceed expectations so that is what we are trying to achieve with the McKays Townhouse.”
The Townhouse broadens the group’s offering as Pitlochry continues to attract a strong mix of domestic and international visitors. Around half a million people visit the town each year, and this is expected to grow further following the appointment of actor Alan Cumming as Artistic Director of the town’s ‘Festival Theatre in the hills’. A programme of events is planned throughout the year.
