Country Hotel in the Highlands

OK, so please bear with me here. I am not naming this place as is is a former rural hotel awaiting redevelopment. It is not boarded up, and it has no broken windows, despite the fact it has been vacant over a year. Access is not through the front door, but almost as easy, hence my reluctance to give away it's location. If you think you know where it is, please keep it to yourself, or PM me. This place has alot of history for me and the friend I visited it with. We met there when we were both 14 and we are still very good friends. It was actually a spur of the moment explore, as I was photographing a flat in the town for a website, and staying over, so after the pubs shut, a rather drunken duo headed off for one final beer in this hotel. (We took our own beer BTW!)

On with the pics- In no particular order

The Dining Room. I it actually much bigger than this pic makes it seem


Kitchen






Wine cellar was the safest place in the hotel


Corridor shots








Breakfast room part 1


And part 2 (Separated by wine "Safe")


The Bar! Oh the memories


Some of the bedrooms, the leccy was still on BTW




Furniture, bedding and even TV's. Although moved for asbestos removal, all still present.


Now this hotel was a rather fine building and had a tower with a flagpole. It is actually the highest point in this town. So.....Up we went!
Looking down


Looking over


I nearly lost my head


The local religious establishment


And a little closer


The once magnificent vegetable gardens


The hotel from the gardens


It was quite a moving experience for me, and I really had mixed emotions about the whole experience, but as we left the grounds and entered the high street, the photographer in me took over.


I hope you like

Oh, and note to self: Stop fiddling with ISO settings when you are drunk!

Very good, though someone lost their head at one point

This is a hotel! I was expecting a hotle as per the title!

Nice stuff, like the reverse headshot too.

Cheers Foz, though either the error was in your mind or we have the snappiest mods in the business!

Bryag said:

Cheers Foz, though either the error was in your mind or we have the snappiest mods in the business!

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They're just doing it to make me look foolish. Its a conspiracy I tell thee.

foz101 said:

They're just doing it to make me look foolish. Its a conspiracy I tell thee.

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Ahh, we best leave that to the conspiracy theorists, Foz. They are coming to get you!

Richard Davies said:

Very good, though someone lost their head at one point

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Actually Richard, 2 people lost their heads in two different photos, it would have been three (photos), but the thought of recreating the optics in the bar was a mountain too high!

Lovely report! Looks really eerie there, and well done on the creative watermarks too!

I confess, I fixed the hotle problem

Looks good, I know where it is too.

Great location, love the headless shot!

krela said:

I confess, I fixed the hotle problem

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Thanks, Krela for fixing it and for making Foz think he was losing it

Bryag said:

Thanks, Krela for fixing it and for making Foz think he was losing it

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Damn' this seems strangely familiar

Nice work, pics are looking good

UrbanX said:

Lovely report! Looks really eerie there, and well done on the creative watermarks too!

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Thanks UrbanX, in a previous life on a previous forum I was accused of graffiti-ing an ROC post.

It was actually not eerie at all. I know it does look it, but this place was like a second home to me as a teenager, and it felt like an old friend. It was warm, dry, and comfortable. It is a wonder no-one has moved in, although given it's location it probably isn't Perhaps to an interloper this place would seem more imposing, but I really felt I could have spent the night. Unfortunately, our supply of beer ran out, so we had to move on.

It does have a rather impressive front hall and stairs, not to mention the little wooden telephone box, but the lights were not working there (and TBH switching them on would have really been taking the piss!) and I was torchless

There is still more to see. It has a basement which was a former coal cellar turned into a bar, which was the place to go back in the day. It was full of asbestos as it also contained the boiler for the hotel. It also had an Annexe which is less interesting as it was a more modern building, but it does have an older part at the end rising up to 3 stories with the housekeepers accommodation below. In the grounds there was also an ice house and a tennis court.

Lost: If you are planning a visit, best to make it very late like we did (after 11pm). There are two houses in the grounds, both occupied and both overlooking the hotel. If you know your way about (as we did) the police would never find you. But be careful as the police in this town really have nothing better to do.

I also think I recognise this place: the hotel looks like a fine piece of Scots Baronial. Nice to find it explorable.

BTW, if you ever need to fix graininess caused by drunken high ISO antics … try some sobering gaussian blur.

wolfism said:

I also think I recognise this place: the hotel looks like a fine piece of Scots Baronial. Nice to find it explorable.

BTW, if you ever need to fix graininess caused by drunken high ISO antics … try some sobering gaussian blur.

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Thanks Wolfism I tried it on the grainy corridor/stair shots, just a little about 2.5 and it removed alot if the graininess. Not perfect, but still much better than the original

It really is an attractive building, and with a kings ransom in lead on the roofs (yes the plural IS intentional!)
just as well the pikeys do not know!

Redevelopment into what?

Edited excerpt:

...College has acquired "Country Hotel" for development as a major new training facility for hospitality and tourism ...

Looks like a gorgeous building. Love those bar shots, and the roof top ones, although the one looking down, made me feel dizzy lmao. really liking the headless shots.

Very, verynice place, glad its going to be used for something useful instead of being demolished etc.

Cheers,

Sal