Alastair Borland will join the hotel, which has been renamed The Loch Lomond Arms, as general manager when it re-opens in July and will be responsible for recruiting 35 members of staff as well as overseeing all hotel operations.
Borland, who previously managed the Anchor hotel in Argyll and the Cabarfeidh Hotel on the Isle of Lewis, will be joined by Valerie Jones as deputy manager and Beverley Smith as duty manager.
Borland said: “I’m proud to have been appointed Loch Lomond Arms’ first general manager and look forward to leading a dedicated team to establishing it as one of Scotland’s leading small hotels as well as a popular village inn.”
Regeneration
Hotel owner Sir Malcolm Colquhoun of Luss and chairman of Luss Estates Company is hoping the regeneration of the 14-bedroom hotel on the banks of Loch Lomond will not only create more jobs but will also help push forward regeneration of the village it is in.
“I’m passionate about Luss, which is not only our family seat but long famous as being Scotland’s prettiest village,” he said. “The Loch Lomond Arms Hotel will be the main focal point in Luss and a vital component of the regeneration of the village, which attracts up to three quarters of a million visitors every year.
“Our aim is to give these people a traditional west coast welcome in a hotel of which we can all be proud. It also means that when the hotel is fully operational we will be able to increase substantially the number of local people who are employed in the region.”
The Loch Lomond Arms Hotel has existed as a hotel or hostelry for more than 200 years. Work to restore it has included demolishing a mid-20th Century extension at the back of the building and upgrading the main building, refitting bedrooms and installing a new restaurant, 100-cover bar and reception area.