It’s definitely been an uncertain time for hospitality businesses across Scotland, but that hasn’t stopped one of the country’s leading hotel groups Crieff Hydro Family of Hotels, in its programme of investment and development of new initiatives.

Over the course of 2020, the Family has invested in its hotels and formed strategic partnerships to strengthen its offering to guests and visitors for 2020 and beyond.

Crieff Hydro Family of Hotels is a collection of eight hotels all set within iconic Scottish locations namely Perthshire, the Scottish Borders, the Highlands and Dundee.

The Family includes Crieff Hydro, Peebles Hydro, Murraypark Hotel in Crieff, The Park Hotel in Peebles, The Isles of Glencoe, Ballachulish Hotel and Kingshouse Hotel also in Glencoe and Taypark House Hotel – the first associate hotel of the family. Their facilities are extensive and include more than just your traditional short break overnight accommodation and breakfast. There’s plenty of onsite, outdoor and indoor activities, entertainment programmes, varied food and drink offerings at all hotels and spas at Crieff Hydro and Peebles Hydro.

Across the family, 2020 has seen great investment into the hotels. This includes refurbishment of all the bedrooms at The Ballachulish Hotel, the £300,000 development of a new family Adventure Park at Crieff Hydro Resort and a £500,000 investment into a new distillery and reimagined look for the Family’s 1881 gin, homed at Peebles Hydro.

If that wasn’t enough earlier this month, the award-winning Taypark House Hotel, in Dundee became the first associate hotel of Crieff Hydro Family of Hotels and one of many that they hope to add in the future.

But 2020 isn’t just about investment into the hotels. The team identified early on that a post-pandemic recovery would be quicker if like-minded strategic partnerships were formed to enhance the guest experience and reach new audiences.

One such partnership has launched this week at Peebles Hydro Hotel. Just in time for Christmas, they have revitalised their spa offering by partnering with PURE Spa & Beauty.

The partnership will see the existing spa expanded with an additional treatment room and the traditional relaxation and treatment rooms rebranded with upgraded beds and equipment to exclusively offer PURE Spa & Beauty treatments. A new beauty salon will also be created adjacent to the current spa offering manicures, pedicures and eyebrow treatments.

Further partnerships have been developed with Glenturret distillery who sponsored the Family’s hugely popular autumn campaign and with Arran Sense of Scotland who ran a social media initiative in October to support all of their hotel partners.

Perhaps the most rewarding partnership to date has been with National Trust for Scotland.  Their values around sustainability and education mirror those Family values of Crieff Hydro Family of Hotels so seemed a natural fit for a year-long partnership in 2021. Guests can take advantage of a free ticket to a National Trust for Scotland place when they stay at any hotel in the family in 2021. Other joint initiatives are due to be launched in the New Year.

Making and sharing treasured memories has never been more important and that’s why the group established these key partnerships to offer experience-led breaks that everyone can enjoy.

It’s been a busy year for Crieff Hydro Family of Hotels but through continued investment and strategic partnerships the group is further cementing its reputation as one of Scotland’s leading hotel groups.