A £3 million leisure venue with café, restaurant, pool, gym, spa and children’s play barn has opened on the site of a former golf and country club in East Lothian.
Whitekirk Hill has been launched by a group of entrepreneurs who recently returned to the area after working overseas. They include the Haddington-based Wilkie family who are behind residential developments in the area.
The former country club has been fully refurbished and extended to include an Orangery café for casual dining and the other facilities. It is part of a larger masterplan for an eco-holiday resort with views across the East Lothian countryside and coastline to Bass Rock. It has brought 30 full-time equivalent jobs to the area.
General manager Brenda Campbell has returned from her native South Africa where she worked for a hotel and luxury game lodges, to run the development at Whitekirk, while head c hef Fraser Brash from Port Seton oversees the contemporary grill restaurant. He has run restaurants around the world and is settling back into East Lothian life with his family.
The leisure facilities include a gym, 13-metre pool, sauna, hot tub and steam room. Classes such as core fit, circuits, yoga and Pilates are included in the membership options. The vast indoor children’s play area is the largest Tigerplay facility in Scotland, able to accommodate 100 children in one session.
Campbell said: “The launch of Whitekirk Hill is something of a homecoming moment for me with my involvement in its former incarnation. It’s taken a huge amount of focus and effort but I’m really proud of the new lease of life we have brought about here. We have a truly superb range of facilities in a stunning spot in East Lothian, and a team who’re passionate about delivering a fantastic experience for our visitors, whether they come to eat, relax or play.”
