Dunkeld House Hotel joins Crerar Hotels

Dunkeld House Hotel has officially joined the recently titled AA’s UK Small Hotel Group of the Year Crerar Hotels as its eighth property in Scotland.

The Perthshire hotel has also welcomed interim general manager Paul Leitch, a hospitality veteran who has since secured a four-star AA rating for the hotel and AA Rosette for the Hotels Garden Restaurant.

Dunkeld House Hotel’s brand and hospitality proposition is a fit for the well-established hotel group, led by CEO, Chris Wayne-Wills, and joins the Isle of Mull Hotel and Spa, Oban Bay Hotel, Balmoral Arms in Ballater, Glencoe Inn, Thainstone House in Inverurie, Loch Fyne Hotel and Spa in Inverary and Golf View Hotel and Spa in Nairn, and further raises its luxury profile as part of its impressive collection of four- and five-star hotels and inns.  

The 100-bed four-star, luxury, country house hotel set within a 280-acre estate of natural woodlands on the banks of the River Tay, offers guests all the decadence and period features of a country house but with modern-day amenities.  

The hotel recently underwent a major £800k refurbishment creating three new guest rooms and reimagining the flagship suites The Atholl and The Duchess.  

Future projects include the addition of eight high-end woodland lodges in the Woodland Dell, expansion to the leisure and spa facilities, expansion of the current restaurant and the addition of a new food and beverage offering.  

Chris Wayne-Wills, CEO of Crerar Hotels said: “We are delighted to welcome Dunkeld House Hotel into the Crerar Hotels collection. Its luxury, authentic hospitality offering is well aligned to our current portfolio and complements our existing mix of hotels well. Its recent investment also brings it in line with the high-quality experience people expect with Crerar Hotels.

“Furthermore, we are committed to investing in training, recruitment and various opportunities for the Dunkeld House team to ensure it delivers on the experience people expect when they come to a Crerar Hotel and it’s great to bring Paul onboard as the interim General Manager to really drive that vision forward.”

Wayne-Wills concluded: “By bringing Dunkeld House Hotel into our portfolio, we have a fantastic opportunity to use our wealth of experience to invest in it further to enhance the offering here and develop it as an all-encompassing luxury adventure resort within the Scottish Highlands. 

“Dunkeld House Hotel is a perfect fit with Crerar Hotels and all we aspire to be. It’s a beautiful hotel in an unmatched location that offers an exceptional guest experience, and we are looking forward to building on the huge opportunity that the setting offers us to expand and enhance the offering within national and international audiences.”