The Hotel was built in the 18th Century as a coaching inn on the main road from Aberdeen to Braemar, now the A93. Originally built in the form of a rectangle, with stabling for horses to the rear, the inn was extended twice on its eastern side providing additional public areas on the ground floor and bedrooms on the 1st and 2nd floors.
A category B Listed Building it's frontage is protected in both appearance and structure. As such the windows overlooking the High Street are single glazed and therefore the bedrooms at the front can be affected by noise from the High Street in the evenings.
In November 1965 the hotel was bought by John Melvin, a solicitor and advocate in Aberdeen, along with his partners. The partners were eventually bought out and the hotel was operated by managers until 1991 when Robert Melvin took over. He and his wife Jacqueline (Jacqui) still run the hotel to date.
In February 2010 the hotel completed refurbishment of 9 bathrooms, 3 Bedrooms -including their bathrooms, installed a new fire system to L2 standard (individually addressed detectors in all areas, including smoke detectors in all bedrooms), installed new fire-doors throughout and has built a new fire escape to the rear of the building.
Given the current economic situation further refurbishment has been limited to date but a programme of refurbishment of the public areas (Reception, Cocktail Bar and Dining Room) will commence on the 21st November 2011 to be completed by the beginning of December and the busy Christmas period.
