Holiday lets bid
Two holiday cottages could be created at a Balquhidder hotel as part of a wider timeshare project.
Tom Lewis has submitted an application to Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park planners for the houses for holiday use at the Kingshouse Hotel, which is owned by Mhor 84 Ltd.
The two buildings are part of a wider project to refurbish and extend five existing self-catering cottages, rebuild a self-catering cottage that was damaged by fire and demolished, and to build a new self-catering cottage to match the other six on the location of a previously approved but unbuilt cottage.
Agents for Mr Lewis said the existing Kingshouse Cottages were built over 25 years ago behind the then Kingshouse Hotel and consented by Stirling Council for self-catering use.
They added:“Over the years these cottages have been used for both self-catering use and temporary staff accommodation. The Kingshouse Hotel was bought by the present owners in 2010, renamed Mhor 84 and the ownership of the cottages passed onto them.
“The hotel is now part of the Mhor group of companies and the site has been continuously developed since their purchase to become a hospitality hub for the area and a major tourist stop on the A84.
“During their ownership two of the cottages were developed to become overflow hotel bedrooms and the rest were split between self-catering and overflow staff accommodation.
“Recently one of the staff accommodation use cottages was burnt down and the remains subsequently demolished.”
The agents said that the cottages were becoming“tired and in need of renovation”.
They added:“There has been a very strong surge in demand for self-catering accommodation – especially within the context of existing hospitality businesses – and the cottages at Mhor 84 are perfectly situated to capitalise on a new market model that has recently entered the hospitality sector.
“The outline of the proposal in this application is to renovate and extend the existing cottages to a much higher standard of finish and to construct two new cottages to make a total of seven, two-bedroomed/ four berth units.
“These will remain within the ownership and control of the hotel and will remain strictly self-catering only and will not have any long-term residential use – as per their original planning conditions.
“The model that the applicant is developing is a fractional ownership model for the cottages. This involves leasing the right to use one of the cottages for a specific period of time each year.
“Mhor group will maintain ownership and responsibility for the cottages and their grounds/ infrastructure. Each cottage is divided into increments of time, typically weeks, and each increment is sold as a timeshare.”