The old Hilton Doubletree in Aberdeen is being repaired amid hopes that a new owner could be found for the venue.
Hospitality experts from The Crieff Hydro Group are overseeing work to protect the Beach Boulevard site from the elements.
It comes after some rooms were destroyed by flooding.
The building has been empty for two and a half years, having closed shortly into the Covid pandemic.
The Crieff Hydro Group runs eight top hotels across Scotland, and will ultimately advise the council and others on its future marketability.
Company chief executive Steve Leckie told us the firm is helping “get the hotel where it needs to be” ahead of any potential sale.
‘It was like the Mary Celeste in there…’
The Aberdeen Hilton Doubletree closed in May 2020, having last welcomed guests two months earlier.
It came only three months after the city’s Treetops Hotel on Springfield Road shut just as suddenly.
Workers have now fenced off the large site as a lengthy restoration process gets underway.
Lanarkshire-based Integrated Environments Ltd have been tasked with the work.
One of the company’s bosses told us about the project – which has included “stripping out” three rooms irreparably damaged by water ingress.
Company director Laurence Sharp said: “We have been asked to come in and do recommissioning work, which means getting it back into a serviceable condition.
“It’s been laying dormant since March 2020, and obviously has been suffering the effects of being mothballed for such a period of time.
“It was like the Mary Celeste in there.”
Hotel suffered damage while lying empty
Mr Sharp added: “Three rooms in the building at the back suffered flood damage, and have all been completely stripped back so it’s now one big space.
“We are here making it wind and watertight just now.
“Making sure the power and safety systems are back in working order will be our next job.”
‘We are looking at the Aberdeen market’
The Crieff Hydro group’s Mr Leckie said the firm is weighing up “a number of different business options” for the complex.
He said: “We are looking at the Aberdeen market to see what we might do, we’re seeing what might be next for it.
“The main thing, for now, is making sure it’s wind and watertight over the winter.”
Mr Leckie added: “We are finding out the state of the building, what it would take to reopen it, and what form that might be in.
“At the moment, the focus is on getting the building to where it needs to be condition-wise…”
Mr Leckie added that the firm often undertakes this sort of work around Scotland and England.
Local leaders welcome signs of life at Aberdeen’s old Hilton Doubletree
Chairman of the Aberdeen City and Shire Hotels Association, Frank Whitaker, cautiously welcomed the possibility of it being revived.
He said: “It’s always encouraging for the local economy when you see interest being shown in a site like this.
“The hotel sector in Aberdeen is still in a transition coming out of Covid, and moving into what we hope will be a brighter future.
“With the beachfront transformation the council is looking at, that site could be a strong location.
We would like to see a good, high-quality offering there.”
And local councillor Sandra Macdonald said she was “looking forward” to learning more about the development.
Ability Hotels ran the Aberdeen Hilton Doubletree, and continued to pay for security at the site long after it closed.
But accounts filed in August reveal that it was handed back to “the landlord”, Aberdeen City Council, to avoid having to pay additional expenses.
Who are the Crieff Hydro group?
Though the firm is working in Aberdeen on a consultancy basis, it’s best known for running some of the country’s most stunning venues.
Among its eight venues, the Crieff Hydro group most famously runs the Crieff Hydro Hotel in Perthshire – which dates back more than 150 years.
Elsewhere in that scenic part of Scotland, it runs the Murraypark Hotel.
The company also operates Peebles Hydro and The Park Hotel in the Borders and the Ballachulish Hotel, Isles of Glencoe and Kinghouse Hotel in the West Highlands.
And closest to Aberdeen, it owns Taypark House in Dundee.
Mr Leckie explained: “We know what it’s like to do things up, we’ve spent £75 million on our own hotels.
“We know what it’s like to refurbish bedrooms and bathrooms, that’s why we are involved in Aberdeen.
“Nobody likes to see a building empty if you can get it open again. It’s always worth looking at.”
A council spokesman said: “Aberdeen City Council is the ground landlord.
“The works referred to are those which we understand the tenant has a contractor to run and operate.”
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