Atholl Palace Hotel
The Atholl Palace Hotel in Pitlochry is a palace hotel in the Scottish Highlands .
history
The area around Pitlochry was opened up for tourism with the construction of the railway in 1863. After the Athole Hydropathic Society was founded in 1873, the palatial hotel was built in a dominant location in 1874-78. The architect was Andrew Heiton. The company was initially designed as a water spa. Orientation towards long-term spa guests and hydrotherapy, however, did not prove to be successful. The company ran into difficulties, the entrepreneur William Macdonald took over the house in 1886 at a quarter of the original construction costs and ran the hotel successfully as a tourist hotel until 1909. However, MacDonald ultimately ruined himself through daring financial speculation with French stocks.
In the next few decades there was a quiet development, interrupted by the two world wars in which the hotel served as an alternative accommodation for boarding schools that had been relocated due to the war. In 1960 the luxury hotel played a special role during Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Pitlochry. The increasingly problematic situation of the old palace hotels was also evident at the Atholl Palace Hotel, the exclusive character of the house could not always be maintained, instead of individual travelers from the upper class, group travelers also came as visitors. In 1971, 1973, 1976, 1996, and most recently in 2001, there were changes of ownership and attempts at modernization with the creation of a helipad. The house, which can be seen from afar, is still the landmark of the area and also served as a meeting place for the Scottish regional government. A small tourism museum has been set up in the basement.
The building has been a listed building as a category B since 1971 .
Web links
Coordinates: 56 ° 42 ′ 6.5 ″ N , 3 ° 43 ′ 10.5 ″ W.