AN award-winning hotel and restaurant in Perthshire has been sold for (pounds) 1.4m to Robert Wiseman, the multi-millionaire dairy tycoon, who is to make it his family home.
Auchterarder House, whose guests have included Ronald Reagan, the former US president, and Margaret Thatcher, will cease trading as early as next Tuesday, according to insiders.
They added that Goran Strok, founder of the Wren's hotel group - whose portfolio includes Cringletie House Hotel in Peebleshire - received ''an offer too good to refuse'' from one of Scotland's richest businessmen.
Last night, Wren's did not rule out the sale of Cringletie in order to raises money for expansion in England and abroad.
Mr Wiseman, 46, will move into the 15-bedroom manor house in 18 acres of woodland with Paula Edgington, his second wife. Married in 1999, they have two children.
The businessman's first wife, a mother of four, died suddenly in 1997, during a family holiday in America.
Mr Wiseman, on holiday on America's west coast, said last night: ''We feel very fortunate this opportunity has arisen. I have lived in Auchterarder for the last 12 years. It's my home, and there is nothing more important to me than my family and ensuring their happiness.
''Auchterarder House is, in my view, one of the prettiest places in Scotland. It is also very private, and therefore a wonderful place to raise a family.''
The hotel and restaurant was the last place visited by Philip Riddle during his fact-finding tour of the country on taking over as chief executive of VisitScotland last year, and its sale is a blow to the tourism industry at a time of highlighting standards in food, accommodation and service to encourage visitors in the wake of foot-and-mouth and September 11.
It also opens a debate on allowing prestigious country hotels to be turned into private homes. English councils, in particular, take a hard line to preserve them, especially those sited in villages.
The British Hospitality Association, which represents the hotel industry, expressed sorrow at Auchterarder House's loss.
A spokesman said: ''A change of use from commerce would face many planning hurdles in England. We regret the disappearance of such a business.''
A VisitScotland spokesman said of the impending loss: ''It is a great shame that an establishment such as Auchterarder House has been allowed to leave the Scottish tourism product.
''It's a good example of the quality product Scotland can provide. We would have liked it to stay within tourism, but must respect a private decision.''
Mr Wiseman lives near Auchterarder House, as do Alan and Gavin, his brothers, also part of Scotland's largest milk processing business, worth an estimated (pounds) 80m and founded by their father in 1947.
News of the sale comes less than a week after Ian Fleming, who ran the hotel, announced that he had bought the Buttery restaurant in Glasgow.
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