Impressive 8 Bedroom Hotel with Public and Lounge Bar set within Caithness on the NC500

• Attractive high quality Highland hotel on the North Coast 500.
• Beautifully finished traditional property with prominent roadside trading location.
• 8 well-appointed en-suite letting bedrooms, smart public bar, attractive lounge bar and dining room.
• Spacious private one bedroom owners’ accommodation.
• Home lifestyle opportunity in walk-in condition trading throughout the year.

DESCRIPTION

The Queen’s Hotel is a delightful Highland hotel which extends a relaxed and friendly welcome to all. This tasteful property combines traditional with a modern twist and enjoys a commanding roadside presence directly on the busy A99, central to the busy town of Wick. The property, originally a church manse, dates back to the late 19th Century, opening as a hotel in 1953 and presented today with a smart range of modern facilities which appeal to a broad spectrum of visitors.

This fine property benefits from Victorian proportions and boasts decorative cornicing, high ceilings, attractive interior archways and high skirting boards. The hotel has an excellent and flexible range of well-appointed public areas; a breakfast area, lounge bar, public bar and dining room. The Queen’s Hotel is indeed a well-supported business enjoying strong links with the local community.  The hotel has been extensively refurbished and maintained in the hands of the present owners, resulting in this fulfilling and rewarding home and lifestyle opportunity being brought to the market as a turn-key operation.

TRADE

The Queen’s Hotel is a popular destination, combining a great level of local support with a healthy mix of business trade and tourism. Guests can enjoy great cuisine, comfortable accommodation and the excellent service levels. The business trades year-round generating a consistent level of income with excellent profitability. Trade is generated from the 8 letting bedrooms, the large public bar and attractive lounge bar and dining room which combined, can cater for around 60 covers. The business has a modern website which utilises the ‘freetobook’ reservation system and is also marketed through VisitScotland.  

New owners may wish to maintain the current successful business model or have the opportunity to develop the accommodation aspects of the business further. The Queen’s Hotel could easily operate on a guest house only basis, providing scope for new owners to develop the ground floor areas into further letting accommodation subject to consents.

REASON FOR SALE

The present owners bought the Hotel in 2004 and have invested considerably into modernising and refurbishing the business into the delightful property it is today. They have enjoyed the rewarding and profitable lifestyle that accompanies ownership of such a successful business. It is their planned retirement from the hospitality sector that brings this desirable hotel to the market. 

LOCATION

The busy harbour town of Wick sits to the North East of the county of Caithness. Caithness has long been a popular destination for many tourists. The population of Wick is c7000 but with a much broader catchment area. Tourism is one of the main sources of income to the area in the main season being highly popular with walkers, cyclists, ornithologists, archaeologists and anglers, and those undertaking the North Coast 500 route.  The Old Pulteney distillery is a popular attraction as is the active harbour and the 18-hole golf course. In terms of infrastructure the town is very well supported and benefits from excellent primary and high schooling, welfare and medical facilities, leisure resources and communication links with a railway station and airport.

Caithness is an area rich in wildlife, home to herds of wild red deer, the otter and the Atlantic salmon amongst other species. Ornithologists are frequent visitors to the county, attracted by the golden eagle, hen harrier, peregrine falcon, short eared owl, black and red grouse, puffin, red throated divers and corncrake. Such are wildlife numbers that a sustainable cull of deer and sporting birds brings stalkers and shooters to the area, generally in the winter months.  As for the tourist, there are lots of options. Orkney, which is a day trip away, has numerous sites of archaeological interest plus there is the Castle of Mey and Dunrobin Castle which also attract a number of visitors.

THE PROPERTY 

The Queen’s Hotel is an attractive detached property of traditional construction dating back to the latter part of the 19th Century with more recent extensions. A substantial property, stone built mainly under a pitched slate roof, the hotel has accommodation arranged over 3 floors.

PUBLIC AREAS

The hotel entrance faces the main road, an arched outer doorway leads to glazed double inner doors which open into the main entrance hallway. The hallway is fully tiled and has a polished commemorative tile inset noting the date of 1953 when it opened for business as a hotel. In the entrance hallway is the reception desk which conveniently faces the main access and a most attractive stairwell leads upstairs to the hotel’s comfortable letting bedrooms. To the rear of the reception desk is an office space.

Upon entering the hotel on the right is a spacious breakfasting room with solid wood flooring, an open fireplace with tiled facing, cast iron inset and sits on a Caithness flagstone hearth. The room has a relaxed lighting, making this area an ideal breakfast setting from where to start the day. On the left of the main entrance is a spacious lounge bar, a carpeted area set with comfortable sofas around an open fireplace with a cast iron inset and a Caithness flagstone hearth.  The other half of the lounge bar has a hardwood floor and is set with tables and chairs, as a bistro style dining area, again with modern lighting.  The lounge bar is back to back with the public bar which is both convenient and economic from a staffing perspective. Both bars have an adjoining passage which accommodates the smart new range of ladies, gents and disabled rest rooms incorporating a baby changing facility. The public bar has a separate entrance, access to the beer garden to the rear and offers pool, darts, game and fruit machines together with live Sky Sports via 2 large TVs. The beer garden is licenced until 9pm for alcohol and food. Off the lounge bar is the spacious dining room which seats at least 24 guests and overlooks the rear garden.

LETTING BEDROOMS

The hotel has 8 en-suite letting bedrooms, all located on the first floor, which are all attractively decorated and with controllable central heating. Between rooms 1 and 2 there is a separate bathroom, this is additional to the ensuite facilities within the rooms.  The rooms are well-appointed and most comfortable with modern facilities including hospitality trays, ironing boards, TVs etc.

Room 1 – Single en-suite with shower

Room 2 – Double en-suite with shower

Room 3 – Twin with en-suite shower

Room 4 – 4-poster with en-suite shower

Room 5 – Double en-suite with shower

Room 6 – Double en-suite with shower

Room 7 – Double suite with en-suite shower

Room 8 – Triple en-suite with shower

OWNERS ACCOMMODATION

A separate flat for resident proprietors is situated on the attic floor of the building. This comprises of a large modern fitted and well-appointed kitchen, shower room, double bedroom, lounge and dining area / 2nd bedroom.

SERVICE AREAS

There is direct access from the bars into the chilled beer cellar, there is also access from the corridor leading to local external access for easy for handling deliveries. The hotel has a well-equipped commercial kitchen and wash-up areas. Substantial storage off the kitchen accommodates additional fridges, freezers etc. There is a dry goods store and laundry room. To the back of the building, from the kitchen is a substantial garage which offers external storage space, there is no shortage of storage space within the hotel.

GROUNDS

The hotel benefits from a prominent corner site bordered by an attractive stone dyke style wall. There is a detached garage to the rear. With a tarmac drive, the hotel has adequate private parking for 8 cars plus there is unrestricted roadside parking. There is a beer garden to the rear of the aspects with picnic style tables and bench seating set to the front of the subjects.

SERVICES

Benefiting from mains electricity, gas, water supply and drainage, the hotel has a gas-fired central heating system and utilises gas for cooking purposes in the commercial kitchen. The Hotel is fully fire compliant and benefits from double glazing throughout. All areas of the business are Wi-Fi enabled. The business has a CCTV system with both internal and external coverage.