Grand Theft Auto's millionaire developer Leslie Benzies has purchased a Victorian Portobello hotel - with plans to turn it into a beachfront luxury family home.
The Edinburgh-based entrepreneur bought the former Dalriada Hotel for more than £1 million from hoteliers Terry and Alison Magill in September. He now plans to spend more than £500,000 to makeover the B-listed building.
News website The Edinburgh Reporter reports that Mr Benzies will turn the hotel into a single family home.
With views of the Edinburgh skyline, East Lothian and the Firth of Forth, the property also boasts two private gardens, five spacious bedrooms and a bar on its ground floor.
His spokesman told the website: “I can confirm 77 Promenade will not continue as a licensed premises and that plans will be submitted in due course to convert the property back into private use. Other than that, Mr Benzies regards this transaction as a private matter.”
Overlooking Portobello beach, the hotel was designed in 1869 by renowned architect James Campbell Walker to be used as a prestigious private residence.
In the late 1890s it was known at the Beachborough Villa and owned by Portobello businessman Robert Cooper, who ran a local bottleworks, employing more than 200 people.
In the 1970s, the building was turned into a hotel, first called The Temple Hall Hotel, before later changing its name to the Dalriada.
