Efforts are under way to breathe new life into a vacant Perthshire hotel and provide a timely boost to the area’s local economy.
The company behind Crieff Hydro this week announced it has signed what has been described as an “associate hotel agreement” with the new owners of the Drummond Arms Hotel in St Fillans, latterly known as the Loch Earn Brewery and Hotel.
The hotel features 38 bedrooms, three restaurants, three bars – including a lochside beer garden – and a coffee shop.
The property has direct access to Loch Earn, with 10 moorings, three piers and a private slipway.
It also has its own brewery, which has been purchased by the new owners with a view to opening next year.
Part of the deal will see the picturesque loch’s foreshore, the management of the moorings and the coffee shop overseen by Crieff Hydro.
Stephen Leckie is CEO of the Crieff Hydro group, known formally as the Crieff Hydro Family of Hotels.
He said: “We’ve taken over the management of the foreshore, the management of the moorings and the coffee shop.
“Because it only took place last week it’s all high-speed stuff but right now we’ve looked at getting the coffee shop re-opened and getting going with all that.
“The people who have bought the hotel have bought that and the brewery and are sub-letting out the foreshore and the coffee shop to us.
“It gives us a chance to re-instate the Loch Earn watersports centre, which my two boys ran with their company.
“We’ll be using the slipway for launching, as well as the coffee shop, toilets and tidying up the foreshore to make it much better and managing the moorings.
“We started renting out paddleboards and kayaks as of last Friday and we should have the coffee shop element open this week.
“We’re putting some portable toilets in there just now for hygiene purposes. At the moment, it’s really about management of the site – including the foreshore and management of our own plot out there.”
Stephen continued: “We will be working in partnership with the new owners to undertake a full refurbishment of the hotel in the next 18 months with a view to welcoming guests in spring/summer 2023.
“I was out there Friday, Saturday and Sunday last week and spoke to a lot of locals, including the mooring owners and a lot of people who’ve been using the slipway, and for us it’s about management and control of the various users of the slipway.
“It’s not just about the paddleboarders and the kayakers - it’s about the swimmers and the other people who want to come and enjoy the loch over a coffee or a beer but, also, controlling the jet-skiers, waterskiers and sailing boats.
“My view is that there is enough space on Loch Earn for us all if we all behave.”
Stewart Gavigan, chair of St Fillans Community Council, added: “I think it’s very positive and I’ve been watching the work progress during the recent good weather.
“Crieff Hydro has a good reputation in terms of running businesses and the people I’ve seen on jet-skis [last weekend] have been adhering to the national park’s code of conduct.”
Previous owners Arran Brewery bought the site in 2013 and purchased and installed a secondary brewery in the outbuildings.
After placing the site on the market earlier this year, Arran Brewery said it tried to form a joint venture with several parties on the site but, in the end, none of those proposals came to fruition.
