Look back at Dyce Marriott as hotel closes after 43 years

The hotel was built in the burgeoning early days of the north-east's oil industry.

By Ben Hendry

December 17 2023, 9:33 am

The revolving door at the Dyce Marriott has been boarded up. Image: Ben Hendry/DC Thomson

The Marriott hotel in Dyce has closed after 43 years in business.

A message on the venue’s website states that it has “closed indefinitely” as of this weekend.

The hotel opened as a Holiday Inn in 1980, at a time when more and more accommodation was needed during the oil boom.

But times have changed since then, with the downturn and then the Covid pandemic hammering the local hospitality industry – followed by soaring power costs.

And various rival venues have been built closer to Aberdeen International Airport.

The Dyce Marriott was latterly known under the chain’s Delta brand. Image: Ben Hendry/DC Thomson

What did the final guests think of the Dyce Marriott?

It appears that the venue fell into decline in recent years.

A look at the final handful of reviews left on the Tripadvisor website paints a mixed picture of the Dyce Marriott.

One visitor this October praised the “5/5 staff” but expressed disappointment the gym and pool had been closed.

The Marriott Hotel in Dyce as it looked prior to a recent external makeover. Image: Kath Flannery/DC Thomson

The once bustling venue has closed “indefinitely”. Image: Ben Hendry/DC Thomson

However, another critic in September slammed the “food resembling utter slop” and another this summer said the Dyce Marriott had “gone downhill immensely”.

One unimpressed visitor this year said steak priced at £25 (not including chips) was the “sorriest plate of food they had ever witnessed”.

They added: “Debating ringing the police and saying I’ve been robbed.”

Closure follows recent rebrand

The premises was latterly run under the firm’s Delta Hotels by Marriott brand.

It was one of 23 across the UK given this treatment, with fresh signage installed not that long ago.

Dyce Marriott — The local hospitality industry has lunged from one crisis to another in the last few years. Image: Ben Hendry/DC Thomson

We have collated some photos of the hotel over the years. Do you recognise anyone in them?

Look back at glory days of hotel

Scotland fans at the Dyce Marriott — Scotland supporters reaction as they watched John Collins score a penalty against Brazil in the 1998 World Cup from the Dyce hotel. Pictured are Billy Buchan, Derek Reid, Joe Howell and Gary Ewen.

Staff at the Dyce Marriott — Marriott Dyce staff from left Lisa Hamner, June Hamner, Allan Grant, and Katrina Henderson, took part in the Bennachie Walkover in aid of Children 2000. Image: DC Thomson

The Young Enterprise Grampian Finalists evening was held at the Marriott in Dyce. Kevin Lawson, Catriona Cameron, Stewart Lawtie, Tony Walker and Marc Evans are pictured. Image: Colin Rennie/DC Thomson

Journalist Peter Mitchell, guest speaker Alan Rough and Evening Express editor Donald Martin, at the EE Children 2000 Golf Dinner, held at the venue.

Frasers fashion show at the hotel as part of the Evening Express Children 2000 appeal

Instructor James Milne at the poolside gym. Image: Jim Irvine/DC Thomson

Hertha Berlin manager Hubb Stevens at a pre-match press conference in 2002. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson

Louise Burgess, Fiona Wood, Big Brother winner Cameron Stout, Sally Murray and Jackie Shearer. Image: Gordon Lennox/DC Thomson

Lesley Dunlop and Emmerdale star Chris Chittell at a fundraiser in 2000. Image: Colin Rennie/DC Thomson

General manager Chris McGuinness pictured at the hotel in 2013. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson

An event at the Dyce Marriott — TREK (Together Raising Essential Kindness) staged an event there in 2015. From left: Lisa Scott, Fiona Donald, Susan Forsyth, George Ross, Ann McMurray and Marion Currie. Image: Colin Rennie/DC Thomson

A charity party at the Dyce Marriott — The Contact the Elderly christmas lunch at the Marriott in Dyce, Aberdeen in 2017. In the picture are from left: Maureen Geddes, Anne Nutten, Sharon Mair, Margaret Morrison and Sharon Meechan. Image: Jim Irvine/DC Thomson

Do you have fond memories of the Dyce Marriott? Let us know in our comments section below

Closure comes as bosses want to keep Courtyard expansion on the table

The Marriott has been contacted for comment on the reason for the closure.

Earlier this year, the hotel chain sought to reassure Aberdeen City Council that it hasn’t given up on stalled plans for a massive £8.5 million expansion of the nearby Courtyard venue.

The changes, which would double the size of the hotel, were approved in 2015.

The Courtyard Marriott a short distance away in Dyce — The Courtyard hotel next to Aberdeen International Airport. Image: Paul Glendell/DC Thomson

Since then, nothing has happened due to market conditions.

But Marriott management want the permission extended to 2026, to see if the costly project might be viable by then.

The Dyce Marriott — The hotel was given a new name but some guests were left disappointed. Image: Ben Hendry/DC Thomson

Dyce Marriott closure is latest blow to Aberdeen market

It is the latest in a string of hospitality casualties in Aberdeen, with the Northern Hotel shutting last year after bemoaning crippling energy bills and rates.

During the pandemic, the Hilton Garden Inn shut, along with the Doubletree by the beach.

The Mariner Hotel also closed, and the Travelodge on Justice Mill Lane became student flats.