Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Luxury north hotel shut down as plans to turn it into holiday home for rich American take shape

Ackergill Tower has been abruptly closed
Ackergill Tower has been abruptly closed

A luxury north hotel has been abruptly shut down, leaving staff shocked and devastating dozens of people who had booked expensive Christmas stays.

About 40 employees at Ackergill Tower, outside Wick, were called into an emergency meeting yesterday morning where they were told that the historic venue was being closed immediately.

It is understood that a wealthy American plans to buy the 15th century establishment, which has been on the market for three years, and use it as a holiday home.

A planning application has been lodged with Highland Council, seeking permission to change the use of the building from a hotel to a house.

The tower has struggled to attract guests during the early winter, but 30 of its 33 rooms had been booked over Christmas.

Last night, customers were advised that the festive getaways they had shelled out huge sums for would have to be scrapped.

And fears have been raised that the demise of the picturesque attraction could impact on the popularity of the North Coast 500 (NC500) – which promotes the spot as “one of the finest hotels in the Highlands” to visitors from across the world.

Wick and East Caithness councillor Raymond Bremner claimed the move showed owners Clarenco LLP “do not care about Caithness”.

He said: “If the tower becomes a holiday home that would be a big loss, especially when you consider its importance to the NC500 and wider far north economy.

“This says a lot about how much the owners care about Caithness.

“Bookings had been taken into early next year, and to enforce this closure at such short notice is absolutely ridiculous.

“My thoughts are with the staff, their families and the guests, especially at this time of year.”

Customers who booked three-day festive packages paid between £750 to £900 for a room, or £1,200 for a cottage.

A source told the Press and Journal that the chief executive Clarenco LLP flew to Wick to break the news.

The source said staff thought “everything was continuing as normal” while the building was up for sale.

They added: “The place was almost full for Christmas, people from far and wide had booked rooms.

“Now, 10 days before, they are being told that they can’t stay.

“Staff with contracts were told their contracts were null and void, they were being terminated from today.

“They were told that, if the sale doesn’t go through, then they can re-apply for their jobs in March.

“It is appalling what they have done.”

The Press and Journal made repeated attempts to speak with Clarenco yesterday but staff refused to comment.

Richard Branson, Billy Connolly and the cast of The Only Way Is Essex have all enjoyed stays at Ackergill Tower.

TV host Philip Schofield got married there in 1992, and has returned to visit several times since.