A Victorian mansion in Inverness is undergoing a multi-million pound transformation to become the first Aparthotel in the north.
Rosedene House in Drummond Crescent, at the junction with Island Bank Road, will be split into 10 apartments.
The project is the brainchild of Inverness businessman Amjed Rasul and has come to fruition after protracted negotiations with planning officials.
Mr Rasul said it will go some way to help alleviate the city’s chronic seasonal accommodation shortage as well as offering visitors something new.
He said: “I am very excited about it, combining as it will residential and hospitality. Inverness and the Highlands have a great mix of holiday and short stay accommodation with hotel rooms, B&Bs, guest houses, serviced apartments and hotels with apartments but this fusion is unique in the marketplace.
“There is also the fusion of the old and the new, classical and modern. It’s a stunning 19th century building with the most amazing internal hallway and architectural design features.
“These serviced apartments, under one roof and one ownership, are specifically for short-stay leisure, corporate and relocation guests.”
It will be operating early next year.
The Grade B Listed property dates from mid-19th Century and sits on a one acre site, across from the banks of the River Ness opposite Ness Islands.
For the last decade the building has operated as a beauty and cosmetic treatment centre and prior to that it housed offices. It has also been a children’s home, a women’s refuge centre and a maternity hospital.
Mr Rasul, who was born and brought up in the Highlands, owns substantial assets throughout the UK.