Inverness new hotel boom could spark huge rise in footfall, according to Highland Council’s Inverness Strategy
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THE brains behind plans to boost the life and economy of Inverness city centre believe the boom in new hotels will be a cornerstone of the Highland captial’s future urban development.
Highland Council’s Inverness Strategy is eager to avoid the pitfalls of a ‘pie in the sky’ mentality and wishful thinking and have set sights on areas of potential that can be tapped into relatively easily.
One key opportunity comes from the private sector and burgeoning demand for Highland tourism – something the council’s planners feel offers a significant opportunity to capitalise upon.
Already headway has been made to make the most of the economic interest in the city through significant private investment in separate projects in at least three major hotels planned for the city centre.
While in “parallel” serious levels of public cash is being ploughed into the redevelopment of the Victorian Market, by the council, and Inverness Castle – both of which hope to independently make Inverness a more attractive destination.
In short, the hotels provide the people and the council has provided at least one place where they can go and hopefully enjoy the best of Highland food and beverages within walking distance of their hotels.
According to the strategy: “Tourism has and will continue to play a central role in the city centre economy, illustrated by the major private sector investments under way creating both additional bed spaces and entire new hotel developments, such as at Glebe Street and Rose Street. Parallel public sector investment is also under way including the Victorian Market food hall and Inverness Castle Project.
“Combined these multi-stakeholder interventions will generate both income for the city and footfall that will support further growth of services and facilities.”
And those new developments are occupying some of the key, under-used sites in the city centre starting with a former council-owned building on Church Street which will be converted by Kingsmills Hotel into a 79-bed establishment described as the “unloved” block on a “prime city centre spot” that is in “need of extensive refurbishment.”
Another is the new 177-room Moxy Hotel on Glebe Street and Friars’ Bridge on the riverside. It is currently under construction and will, on the Glebe Street side, directly offer the public a “plinth” of new restaurants and bars and will also boast a south-facing riverfront terrace.
Yet another hotel will replace the much-used but not very attractive two-storey former car park next to Farraline Park bus station with a new 210-bed Hampton Hotel, which will be the largest in Inverness.
The development includes a dedicated street and bus lane linking to the adjacent bus station, facilitating the reduction of bus congestion on Academy Street, with the ground floor offering either office or retail space and the hotel above.
In all, those three hotels will offer 466 new rooms – potentially launching hundreds of guests looking for food and entertainment throughout the city centre every night.
