Luxury Ness-side lodge business has good reason to celebrate
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
ON the 15th anniversary of completing a splendid American-style guest lodge on the banks of the Ness, local businessman David Sutherland now has five lodges sleeping 35 people.
His Ness Castle Lodges are experiencing strong demand levels for “staycations” this summer and next year, compensating for the current restrictions which forbid US and European visitors.
“A significant late surge of bookings has seen our lodges now close to being fully booked for the rest of the year with visitors as far away as London, Northern Ireland and Wales as well as central Scotland,” Mr Sutherland said.
“That’s highly encouraging in the circumstances after having a full booking schedule for 2020 only to have to cancel when the pandemic struck.
“Despite the lodges going to a care and maintenance basis only, we take satisfaction from preserving the 10 full-time and four administrative jobs involved.
“Now we’re coping with pent-up UK demand for a luxury Highland escape for groups and families – and high levels of bookings are being taken for 2022.”
It was during a holiday in Arizona that Mr Sutherland saw a luxury timber-built lodge and decided to build something similar in Inverness.
River Lodge, yards from the waters of the River Ness and his stretch of fishing rights, was completed and open for business in 2011.
The five-star two-storey lodge has seven bedrooms, all en suite, a large cathedral-style ceiling above an open plan ground floor with a large picture window offering a panoramic view of the Ness.
Luxurious River Lodge, which sleeps 14, has proved highly popular with US and overseas visitors seeking a week or two away from it all, with access to golf and angling.
Since then, further lodges have been created – Benula, sleeping up to seven people, Ghillies sleeping six while Red Squirrel and Weir each sleep four people.
In addition, The Bothy, with its splendid large dining room, offers space for meetings or family/corporate events, and its decking area reaches to the riverside.
“In total, we’ve made an investment in excess of £3 million creating lifestyle standards appealing to visitor groups, a secluded rural setting yet only minutes from the city centre or Loch Ness,” Mr Sutherland said.
“I suppose it was a gamble in some respects, but it’s proved able to meet untapped demand – and the emergence of the North Coast 500 [road route] has added to that upmarket clientele. A couple of weeks ago we had three interlinked families from London, who had hired Ferraris waiting for them to drive the NC500.”
Operations manager Laura Murray said: “Feedback from our guests is that they love to explore the city and wider area, spending in local shops and restaurants, which can only benefit the local economy.
“It’s been a tough time with Covid-19 but it’s great to celebrate our 15th birthday with new momentum, with staycations filling the gap usually met by our international market.”
Next month’s Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington and 2018 winning Ryder Cup skipper Thomas Bjorn are among those who have stayed at Ness Castle Lodges.
Mr Sutherland and his wife Anne also have Home Farm Cottages, plus nine lodges at Glendaruel, Argyll, where former farm buildings have been imaginatively redesigned into top-quality accommodation sleeping 34 people.
Some 4000 bookings were there for the summer season and six jobs are sustained. The property includes six miles of river, 20 acres of rough walking and 80 acres of farmland.
