Macdonald Hotels have announced that the Macdonald Cardrona Hotel, Golf & Country Club is to open in Spring next year. The £11.7m development is one of the most significant tourism projects to be undertaken in the Scottish borders in over 50 years and will be a welcome boost for the local economy with the creation of over 100 jobs.
The development includes a new hotel featuring 100 bedrooms, conferencing and banqueting facilities accommodating up to 180, a fully equipped leisure club including health and beauty treatment rooms, 3 bars and a 124-seat restaurant.
The par 72 golf course, costing £2m to date, opened in August last year. Designed by Dave Thomas, the course is a mix of mature woodland and parkland, blending sympathetically with the natural contours of the countryside. The green construction is in line with USGA guidelines.
In the main very flat, this is a challenging course, with water hazards and fast greens and will provide the professional and amateur golfer with a very enjoyable and mentally challenging round.
The course is currently available on a pay and play basis and will open to membership once the hotel is completed. Current green fees are £20 midweek and £25 weekends, with 50% off green fees for juniors.
The Cardrona project is a joint venture between Macdonald Hotels, Royal Bank Private Equity, Bank of Scotland, Guild Ventures and local entrepreneur, Tom Renwick. In addition to its share in the joint venture, Macdonald Hotels has a 10-year contract to manage the hotel and is overseeing the hotel development, with Ogilvie Construction appointed as main contractors.
Following the Heritage and Barratt acquisitions, Macdonald Hotels is now the UK’s 8th largest hotel & leisure group, operating over 100 hotels and resorts throughout the UK and Spain with over 7,000 bedrooms, a combined turnover in excess of £250m and employing over 6,000 people.
The Peebles property is Macdonald Hotels’ second new build project and will be of the quality of The Holyrood in Edinburgh, which scooped the prestigious AA ‘Scottish Hotel of the Year’ award in 2000, less than 12 months after opening.
Macdonald Hotels www.macdonaldhotels.co.uk