Stupid idea?

[Claypole]

"The rooms were comfortable and clean and breakfast delicious" - tripadvisor.com ... "The Kings, the new owners, have done a great job in restoring the Inn and rooms" - tripadvisor.com ... "Unsmiling, rude and abrupt" - tripadvisor.com ... "A cosy, comfortable, traditional old inn with welcoming, thoughtful hosts" - tripadvisor.com

 

Mixed bunch of reviews.

 

Says they've had it since 2009, not cut out for it or not making any money?

[The Moog]

I think (and this is reading between the lines) that they have split up. Hence trying to sell it. Also they have made bugger all out of it. I think that they run it as a life style business but we cant afford to do that. They have done things like split business in two to avoid being VAT registered etc.

 

Yeah Trip Advisor is a bit odd. Also you cant find the hotel unless you search for it by name on Google. Lots of other little things going for it such as they have the right to do fishing permits in the river behind the hotel.

 

Spoke to someone yesterday whose parents ran a similar kind of place. They recommend that you go after the fishermen by providing services such as breakfast at 4am with packed lunches availble and then keeping kitchen open late for when they come home. It is long days but if you can get a good reputation then people will keep coming back.

 

Again the place shuts over christmas !! Mental or what.

 

If we do get it then will still have an autoshite gathering

[M'coli]

Again the place shuts over christmas !! Mental or what.

Not really, there's not much passing trade on that road and not much more in the way of locals to be worth keeping the place open over Christmas. There really is a huge amount of nothing to do up there when it's chrismas/new year, other than seek the embrace of John Barleycorn...

[The Moog]

Still beautiful place in the world. I guess the only thing is whether roads are closed.

Otherwise it would be sensible to offer to hire out the whole place to a family for a Christmas do.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

Still beautiful place in the world. I guess the only thing is whether roads are closed.

 

It's a bit milder and wetter over that way, more a west Highland climate so not as much snow as the central Highlands. It is pretty dead there in the winter though, with no ski trade passing through.

[synx508]

I think that place looks like too much of a challenge, why not buy somewhere smaller that requires less investment but with more passing trade?

 

Here's a place we nearly bought a few years ago, we'd negotiated with our employers so we could work from home and put our house on the market but it didn't happen. The vendor then denied they'd received our offer, which did seem to be down to their agent being terrible, they decided to wait a few years and try to sell again. Meanwhile we've both changed jobs and it's no longer feasible to move to Mull. It's back on the market now and would be a gentler introduction to the business of dealing with the general public than a run down hotel miles from anywhere: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for ... 42799.html

The location is also perfect and you could operate a 1 or 2 bedroom B+B from it which would've been our extra source of income, I suppose.

It's 30 metres away from Tobermory's BT exchange, which means it has very fast broadband - something we needed to work from home.

[The Moog]

Ahh it is less of the challenge than the last one. I think that if it wasnt a challenge we wouldnt be interested to be honest. We arent looking for a lifestyle business but more one to earn some cash and challenge us.

 

Looks a nice place but too nice for our liking

 

What is it with agents. The one we have been going through is rubbish. They feel very tinpot. We ask questions and dont really get replies, when we challenge bits about the business it seems an age to get a reply. The fact that we are going to spend another couple of hundred quid looking at a property this weekend but yet they cant give us some answers about some important questions.

[The Moog]

Right after a bit of soul searching have decided that the other hotel doesnt tick the boxes, so it is back to Plan A. We are going to be heading down under next year ...

[garethj]

Cool, can you send me back a Leyland P76 in parts?