Originally built in the 19th century by one of the pioneers of the tourist industry, Sir Henry Lunn (founder of Lunn Poly). It was designed as a baronial castle on its private estate and was a spectacular tourist centre at the end of early railway line from London to the Scottish Highlands. We bought the 100 year old building from  the owning family and restored it to its former glory. We then added sports facilities, new restaurants /function/conference suites and marketed to the international incoming tourist companies. Sportsmen and women loved it for its golf, fishing and tennis, and we also welcomed many visitors to the annual Pitlochry Theatre Festival. We had recreated a superb and successful hotel for the late 20th century which was then acquired by a major hotel group.

In 1968 I and my partners, acquired control of The Cally Palace Hotel in Gatehouse of Fleet, a beautiful stately home with 50 bedrooms earning only small profits.
We invested in the property, upgraded the existing house, added a 30 bedroomed luxury wing, built a swimming pool and converted cottages in the grounds into guest accommodation, all aimed at attracting the wealthy north of England market in Yorkshire and Lancashire.  With a great PR team, we gained huge publicity for the newly renovated hotel and its restaurant. We introduced event weekends – a novel idea at the time – with light, classical music, opera singers, jazz groups and literary salons. The beautiful lake in the grounds was cleaned out and stocked with 5,000 fish, ensuring our aspiring fisherman guests could nearly all be successful and have their catch prepared by our chef for dinner in the evening, another new idea in the Seventies. 
After a successful five years we were able to sell the hotel at an excellent profit. 

In 1972 we bought this beautiful 19th century hotel which overlooked the sea and fronted on to North Berwick Golf  Course. It was still catering for a traditional market but was the only large hotel close to the world famous Muirfield. We refurbished the entire hotel and aimed for a sports orientated market – squash courts were built and a function suite added and we became popular with both a younger customer base with professional golf tournaments and a more traditional golf audience by attractive tours in  conjunction with similar hotels. Being only 30 minutes from Edinburgh we also drew the annual Edinburgh Festival crowd. After six years we sold the Marine Hotel to an international hotel group which developed it further for their overseas incoming tourist markets. 

In 1970 I was approached by the chairman of City mining group whose wife owned a 15 bedroom castle, inherited from her grandfather, Jesse Boot, founder of Boots Chemists. It was a loss making property and accessible only by a 40 mile track! He provided the funds to convert into a luxury hotel which we duly created and operated successfully, prior to its profitable sale in 1973.

Sir Christopher Wren's House is on a beautiful site – sitting on the Thames at Eton Bridge. Britain’s most famous architect’s home lived here while working on buildings in Windsor. We created a 48 bedroom luxury hotel and restaurant by investing £2million in restoring and renovating the property. The style and decor of the bedrooms reflected the buildings 17th century heritage but we combined this with en suite facilities and the luxury amenities of a 4 star hotel. Catering for tourists, corporate business and guests attending functions at Windsor Castle, the hotel developed very successfully prior to being sold to a foreign buyer.

This property, originally the 17th century White  Hart, was a traditional riverside inn with 11 bedrooms and a restaurant. However it’s stunning Thameside setting and 4 acre estate made it an attractive acquisition .

A initial £1million capital expenditure added 21 additional bedrooms and a second restaurant. We followed that with a £2million extension which added 18 luxury bedrooms to create a 50 bedroom hotel with two new conference suites in 2006.The Great House developed successfully, catering for both tourists and Thames Valley corporate business prior to being sold in 2013 to a private buyer.

Palmetto Bay Hotel is a 12 bedroom property adjacent to Coral Island Hotel. It was developed into a 26 room hotel with cottages and watersports facilities for the use of guests from both hotels. It became a very popular and profitable business.

The Breakers Club was a strategic investment. It was on one of the prime beaches on the south of the island and we used it as a private beach (with restaurant) for guests of our two hotels – Coral Island and Palmetto Bay. By acquiring the Breakers Club, we created an all round resort development.

Coral island was a traditional 1920's 35 room hotel which was built when the tourists used to arrive on the island by boat or seaplane. It had great potential so we built a new bedroom wing and restaurant and modernised the main hote building creating a successful hotel in the unique setting of flats inlet. It was successfully sold in 1978.