Change of ownership for Bridge Hotel in Bonar Bridge
A hotel located in the heart of a Sutherland village but which has not been fully operational for years has been sold it has emerged.
The Bridge Hotel in Bonar Bridge is understood to have changed hands, with the keys reportedly handed over to the new owners on Christmas Eve.
The change of ownership has raised hopes that the hotel will soon be fully reopened, bringing new jobs to the area. The name of the new owner is not yet known.
The substantial three-storey property, which dates back to the 1800s, has been owned by John Swani for decades, but it is understood that he has never run it, instead renting it out.
Birmingham-based developer Andrew Senior has held the lease for the past six years, and it was his decision to give it up that prompted the sale.
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He said: “I wanted to leave, and Mr Swani is getting on a bit now, so he decided to sell it.”
The accommodation includes 13 en-suite letting bedrooms, two self-contained units, a public and lounge bar, a function room, and various outbuildings. It was put on the market with offers over £195,000 invited.
Mr Senior said that when he took over the property, it was in a dilapidated and unsafe condition with many of the rooms affected by rot.
He said he had spent more than £100,000 on roof works, electrical wiring, toilets, and new flooring on the ground floor as well as on the kitchen.
“It's in 100 per cent better condition than it was when I took it on,” he said. “There’s not much left to do apart from some electrical work in some of the rooms and plastering the ceiling in the restaurant.
Mr Senior was the licence holder but only opened the bar intermittently.
“We opened it for three to four months, then closed it, then opened it again, but trying to do the work and run the bar was too difficult,” he said. “You need a team of people in there to run it, but I was on my own.”
He said the task of renovating the hotel had “virtually destroyed” him and left him in debt, but the village was a “lovely” place with the locals pitching in to help and lending tools and machinery.
Mr Senior added: “I have already booked a room with the new owner for the summer. I love the building and spent a lot of time in it, as did a lot of my family. It was quite emotional getting rid of it.
“I wanted to create jobs for the village and I wanted the hotel to be a community facility - it is the heart of the village, but everything we tried just did not work. I was not making any income. I hope the new owner will do much better.”
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