Developers of a multi-million-pound Inverness hotel say they are committed to working alongside local traders as they look ahead to opening doors this year.
Contractors Acreo are working round-the-clock to finish work on the 175-bed Marriott hotel in Glebe Street.
The four-star hotel, masterminded by Dutch developer Vastint Hospitality, has transformed the derelict grounds of the city’s former swimming pool.
Doors to the AC Hotel Inverness, located on the banks of the Ness, are now due to open in the second half of the year.
The venture is expected to create around 40 full-time jobs, with about a dozen more in other departments.
As construction works gain pace, project manager Gerben de Wit told us the firm is keen to work with local traders to bolster tourism in the Highland capital.
‘We want to be a part of the city’
Mr de Wit said: “Anywhere we go, we promote local businesses and the restaurants guests can go to so there is always a link with the local traders.
“We are here to stay. We own, maintain and operate the hotels for a minimum of 25 years. We are not just the investor, we are also the operator so we have to maintain a good relationship with the local residents and businesses.
“Sometimes you get the bigger developers who buy the development and sell it off but that’s not us. If we do something, it has to be good for the long term.”
He added: “In Inverness, we need to work and live with the businesses and the people here. We want to be a part of the city.
“I hope people see this hotel as a good addition to the city and I hope it brings liveliness to this part of the city centre and the local businesses will do well out of it.
“The majority of the people go towards the castle and all of the focus is round there but I hope this hotel brings life to this part of the city as well.”
Ground works on the city centre development began last March, around 15 months after being granted the seal of approval by councillors.
The hotel’s accommodation will be housed across two separate buildings, with the main hotel block facing Friars Bridge featuring 151 rooms.
The remaining 24 guests will be housed in a separate three-storey block on the grounds.
A variety of double rooms, twin rooms, deluxe rooms and accessible rooms designed for disabled guests will be made available to book.
The hotel’s main lobby will feature the main reception alongside a bar and dining area and a state of the art gym.
Weathering the storm
The development was one of many across the city hit by Covid restrictions.
Mr de Wit says despite the initial setbacks, the build has “gone quite smoothly”.
“We didn’t want to start new construction in the midst of the pandemic under lockdown,” he said.
“There was loads of uncertainty, not so much for the tourism market, but foremost within the construction industry.
“The difficulty in getting started and the uncertainty for the contractors was the most difficult part. Construction completely shut down in Scotland; the only country in Europe to shut down construction.”
He added: “The work has gone quite smoothly.
“Before Acreo started, we remediated the site, got rid of the old foundations of the swimming pool which were still there.
“We have been hit a bit by bad weather but that was always going to happen. I think we were blessed with the summer we had. It was extremely dry and not very windy and it kept going for a long while but then the weather collapsed. Now we have a better period again.
“We were very keen to assemble the rooms – the modular element – predominantly in summer which we did because doing that in winter with the high winds and the rain would have been much more difficult.”
As construction enters the final stage, developers are finalising the hotel’s interior furnishings.
In the various pieces of artworks, currently being prepared, hints of the old swimming pool are set to be incorporated as a “small gesture”.
Mr de Wit, says he hopes the hotel complex will ultimately help breathe new life into that area of the city, commonly seen as the “end of the bookcase.”
The project manager said: “Inverness is very pleasant and a good city to be in. Inverness is quite small in size but your tourism market is so big that it can actually deal with a high volume of beds.
“It’s a strong market, we’re in a city centre location and right on the river, it’s the perfect combination.
“Planners have always seen this side of the city as the other end of the bookcase. When they look at the skyline, they see the castle at one end and they see this site at the other end.
“I hope this hotel connects that part of the city and brings good fortune to the local economy.”
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