Plans for new luxury hotel in St Andrews to be unveiled

Fresh plans for a luxury hotel in the heart of St Andrews are to be unveiled next week.

Scotsman Developments hopes to convert Gibson House Care Home, which is no longer fit for purpose.

The developer behind Edinburgh’s Scotsman Hotel and several high-profile St Andrews projects first submitted a bid for the Argyle Street premises in 2019.

However, it was dependent on the creation of a replacement care home for Gibson House residents.

A 40-bedroom home, purpose-built by the same developer, is now due to open in St Andrews West in spring.

And proposals for a major refurbishment of the listed building are being refreshed.

Developers previously described Gibson House as an iconic building.

And they said St Andrews was a natural choice for a hotel given its historic character.

A new ‘high quality’ hotel for St Andrews

Planning consultants have written to Fife Council asking if an environmental impact assessment is required.

They say: “The prospective applicant is bringing forward plans to refurbish/repurpose the existing listed building to a new high quality hotel.

“Included in the proposals is the demolition of a poor quality 1980s rear extension.”

They plan to replace that with a new high quality extension.

The group says their proposal “offers the opportunity to secure the retention and continued use of this B-listed building to an extremely high Scotsman standard”.

And they are “very keen to hear the views of the community”.

More details will be revealed at a public consultation event in the assembly hall at Kilrymont from 3-7pm on Monday.

Scotsman Developments other St Andrews projects

Scotsman Developments Ltd has been involved in refurbishing listed buildings for 30 years.

One of its best-known projects is the conversion of the former Scotsman newspaper building in Edinburgh city centre into the Scotsman Hotel.

Meanwhile, in St Andrews, it operates the popular Bothy, Mitchell’s and Forgan’s restaurants.

The company is also redeveloping the former Madras College site at Kilrymont into student accommodation.

And its care home plans at St Andrews West are almost complete.

It will provide en-suite bedrooms for 40 residents living in the current home, which is run by the William Gibson Trust.