McWhirrie of McWhirrie
Our editor, Cornelia Hohenlohe, writes:
Suddenly he came into my mind the other day as I was driving along the shore of Loch Bragar: our late local clan chieftain, the McWhirrie of McWhirrie.
When times got hard, in the late 1950s, he and his wife decided - in desperation, no doubt - to take in guests. A couple of years later, after the unhappy experience of accommodating them under their own roof, they made another decision - perhaps more rash. They would open a small hotel, offering not just rooms but meals. This would mean catering for chancers, as the term was.
A dower house had been neglected for years, and they set to restoring and refurbishing it - in the half-hearted way arisrocrats would be expected to go about it. (After all they're quite used to tackling cold by putting on an extra woollen and sometimes have to wear wellingtons indoors to cope with rainwater puddles lying on the floors.)
The result was an improvement, but not a great improvement.
This was appropriate, given the welcome, which was vague at best and rough and ready at worst. The McWhirries of McWhirrie weren't much versed in hospitality, with ancient clan in their veins which caused them to suspect anyone as an infiltrator and a clan enemy. The McWhirries hadn't advanced much in six or seven hundred years.
Their bank manager had his worries, and it was he who advised the couple to insinuate themselves into some of the upmarket guidebooks, by means fair or foul (paying for entry, if need be). The advice worked, especially with my compatriots, who fell for the romantic lure of the misty Highlands.
What they found once they got here was - to repeat someone else's witty line - lots of noblesse but not oblige. The reception was grudging ('You can carry those bags up yourselves?'), the accommodation cramped and not very clean (hygiene wasn't a strong aristo priority), the food was overpriced and poorly executed. A few deft touches - fresh cut flowers, or the whisky bottle (decanters were infra dig) and tumblers on top of the six-legged sideboard - modified the criticism. (The flowers were grown in the garden, and cost nothing; someone I know came down early one morning and saw the fancy malt bottle being filled from a bottle of corner-shop hooch.)
Even if the McWhirries didn't receive repeat custom, they did have a waiting list. There are enough upstarts and arrivistes in the world, many thousands of times over, to keep such businesses in healthy profit.
Our business editor, Cy Allen, writes:
Soon there will be two new foreign-owned resort complexes vying for business in the Carnbeg area. Japanese Nagoya Holdings, recently confirmed as new proprietors of The Inn on Loch Bragar, intend refurbishing it as a luxury hotel and spa complex, offering a mix of Oriental and New Australian treatments. Meanwhile Levett-Dacey, a Canadian company specialising in grand luxe ski and lakeside resort hotels, have bought another famous Carnbeg landmark, the Treetops Hotel; plans have been lodged to transform it into a Royale Resort ® , the first in Europe.
Kerrix House set the trend a couple of years ago, passing into the ownership of the American Skytop Corporation, who have spent a figure close to $12 million equipping it with facilities they believe put it on a par with some of the best leisure hotels in the US. Planning permission has been sought for an 18- hole championship golf course and 14 Kerrix Club
Suddenly he came into my mind the other day as I was driving along the shore of Loch Bragar: our late local clan chieftain, the McWhirrie of McWhirrie.
When times got hard, in the late 1950s, he and his wife decided - in desperation, no doubt - to take in guests. A couple of years later, after the unhappy experience of accommodating them under their own roof, they made another decision - perhaps more rash. They would open a small hotel, offering not just rooms but meals. This would mean catering for chancers, as the term was.
A dower house had been neglected for years, and they set to restoring and refurbishing it - in the half-hearted way arisrocrats would be expected to go about it. (After all they're quite used to tackling cold by putting on an extra woollen and sometimes have to wear wellingtons indoors to cope with rainwater puddles lying on the floors.)
The result was an improvement, but not a great improvement.
This was appropriate, given the welcome, which was vague at best and rough and ready at worst. The McWhirries of McWhirrie weren't much versed in hospitality, with ancient clan in their veins which caused them to suspect anyone as an infiltrator and a clan enemy. The McWhirries hadn't advanced much in six or seven hundred years.
Their bank manager had his worries, and it was he who advised the couple to insinuate themselves into some of the upmarket guidebooks, by means fair or foul (paying for entry, if need be). The advice worked, especially with my compatriots, who fell for the romantic lure of the misty Highlands.
What they found once they got here was - to repeat someone else's witty line - lots of noblesse but not oblige. The reception was grudging ('You can carry those bags up yourselves?'), the accommodation cramped and not very clean (hygiene wasn't a strong aristo priority), the food was overpriced and poorly executed. A few deft touches - fresh cut flowers, or the whisky bottle (decanters were infra dig) and tumblers on top of the six-legged sideboard - modified the criticism. (The flowers were grown in the garden, and cost nothing; someone I know came down early one morning and saw the fancy malt bottle being filled from a bottle of corner-shop hooch.)
Even if the McWhirries didn't receive repeat custom, they did have a waiting list. There are enough upstarts and arrivistes in the world, many thousands of times over, to keep such businesses in healthy profit.
Our business editor, Cy Allen, writes:
Soon there will be two new foreign-owned resort complexes vying for business in the Carnbeg area. Japanese Nagoya Holdings, recently confirmed as new proprietors of The Inn on Loch Bragar, intend refurbishing it as a luxury hotel and spa complex, offering a mix of Oriental and New Australian treatments. Meanwhile Levett-Dacey, a Canadian company specialising in grand luxe ski and lakeside resort hotels, have bought another famous Carnbeg landmark, the Treetops Hotel; plans have been lodged to transform it into a Royale Resort ® , the first in Europe.
Kerrix House set the trend a couple of years ago, passing into the ownership of the American Skytop Corporation, who have spent a figure close to $12 million equipping it with facilities they believe put it on a par with some of the best leisure hotels in the US. Planning permission has been sought for an 18- hole championship golf course and 14 Kerrix Club
June 13, 2008