Five Star

Lunch at the Marcliffe today, Aberdeen's only five star hotel. A couple of weeks ago it was announced the hotel would close in November 2014. Not because it is unprofitable, far from it, but because the land is worth more as a site for development for office space.

There are some who say this is a bluff, I am not so sure. Aberdeen needs a five star hotel if it is serious about being the oil capital of Europe, but I fear it may go ahead with the closure. It is privately owned and the owner says he wants to retire. If he can get more for it as a development site than as a hotel which is he going to accept.

So a nice lunch today, and the staff make the customers feel very special. The closure, if it happens will be bad news for the city, the staff, and everybody who uses the hotel. Possibly even bas news for Trump's golf course.