A Scottish castle that has been turned into a hotel is now on sale in Hong Kong and the mainland after languishing for seven months on the British market without any offers - which the hotel co-owner is blaming on the credit crunch.
A remnant of the 15th-century palace of the Bishop of Sutherland, the 25-bedroom Dornoch Castle Hotel, in the Highland town of Dornoch, is being priced at GBP2.5 million (HK$31.5 million).
The hotel stands opposite the 12th-century Dornoch Cathedral where Madonna and Guy Ritchie had their son Rocco christened the day before their wedding at nearby Skibo Castle in 2000. Dornoch Castle Hotel was used as a base by journalists at the time, and has itself been a popular wedding venue for couples ever since. The hotel is also perfect for whisky tours of nearby distilleries, golfers, and executives visiting Nigg Energy Park, 16 kilometres away, where Global Energy Group is redeveloping engineering facilities for the North Sea oil, gas and renewable energy industries.
The hotel owners have planning consent to add 11 bedrooms, a spa, a second kitchen and cellar, and a 70-seat bistro and bar.
The hotel has been on the market since September 2011, and although agents Knight Frank received interest from potential American buyers within days of the sales launch, no offers have been made by Britons.
'The home market is quite difficult at the moment, and we expected that,' says Colin Thompson co-owner of Dornoch Castle Hotel, 'It is difficult for people to get funding.'
Most inquiries have come from golf tourism agencies who want a foothold in the area, to secure rooms in the hotel for their clients before making the rest available to other agencies, says Thompson.