Elegant Aberdeen city centre luxury boutique hotel, Carmelite, is to be significantly redeveloped in a continued refurbishment and upgrading project which will bring total investment in the past five years to more than £3 million.

The independently-owned Carmelite, which comprises a bar lounge, a grill bistro, meeting rooms and 50 bedrooms, is believed to be oldest ‘hotel’ in Aberdeen - a classic B-listed Victorian building with magnificent stained glass windows - dating back to 1821.

Located as an intrinsic part of the city’s burgeoning Merchant Quarter, which has benefited from a major facelift through a £2.8million Green Townscape Heritage initiative –a partnership between the Heritage Lottery Fund, Aberdeen City Council, Historic Scotland and Scottish Enterprise, Carmelite is a major advocate in promoting the connectivity of the city’s transport hub to the city centre


Formerly known as the Grampian Hotel and relaunched in 2006 as Carmelite when it was bought by its current owners, the building has become a stalwart for its excellent cocktails and food.

The latest redevelopment will follow the upgrading of the ground floor facilities, a new lift and the conversion of bedrooms on the first floor to six uniquely designed suites and 12 designer rooms. The second phase, on which work will begin this week, involves the upgrading of the second floor bedrooms, refurbishment of the whole roof and in total, 237 sash and case windows throughout the building.

The next phase will involve an upgrade of the ground floor 64-seater restaurant, champagne lounge bar and conference/ function room facilities. Work is scheduled to begin after completion of the second floor refurbishment.

Carmelite’s managing director Gary Atkinson said: "This is a second stage of our planned continuation to redevelop a very complex historical building. We continue to strive in our mission to provide a lounge bar and restaurant and a unique quirky boutique hotel in the heart of historic Aberdeen. As we own a listed building, we will take great care in the work on the exterior of a building which is so steeped in history."

(GK)