The Macdougal Clanamn in Inverness is a hotel that, after the first time I stayed there, I knew must have a story to tell. Iain and Lucy are always so welcoming and provide friendly personal service. 

They are partners in the business, along with their mother. Iain works primarily on the managerial side, and Lucy works on a practical day-to-day operational level. 

However, as it's a family business, you will have both front and centre at different times.

I spent some time chatting with Iain about the hotel and its history. The business dates back to his great-grandfather.

His great-grandparents had been shopkeepers; they moved into a guest house on the opposite side of the River Ness in the 1890s, then in the early 1900s, moved into 83 Church Street just a few doors up from the current hotel. His grandfather and grandmother ran the hotel where Iain's father grew up. The first hotel was known as Macdougall's, and his father ran this hotel along with the Clansman from the late 1950s a few doors down the street. He expanded the Clansmnas several times, met Iain's mother, and married. They continued to run both hotels until the mid-1970s when they sold Macdougall's as they felt the number of alterations required to conform to fire regulations would be too much for them.

Iain described Macdougalls' as "a tall, deep hotel with a big garden at the back, lots of stairs, lots of nooks and crannies, and I think it was a challenge. It was a difficult hotel to run."

Check out The Am Baile, Highland History and Culture website. It shows the original MacDougall's Hotel on Church Street.

The Clansman, now known as the Macdougall Clansman, dates back nearly 400 years. Iain's father extended the building in the mid-sixties and again in the late sixties. When discussing the building's age, Iain noted: "It's not altogether obvious from being inside the place that the original part is that old. I think on the outside it does; the extension does look a bit obvious on the outside. It was a sixties extension, so it's not very glamorous. But yeah, that's the same situation as you that we have here. It's an old building that's been extended, so it's not obvious apart from when you're trying to get a wifi signal. And these four feet sick walls play havoc with the wifi."

Iain has experience from outside the family business, which he said he "grew up more or less realising that I would want to go into a career like this," where his sister does enjoy it, but it's not really her "big thing."

They grew up in hotels, and he has a hotel catering and administration degree. He has only worked in hospitality in his family's hotels and others, which has given him industry experience.

Iain described the current hotel as a "big B&B", but they used to do much more in the past.

His father trained as a chef in London and Westminster; when he returned to the Clansman in the late fifties, he "went in big for meals", doing dinners, high teas in the winter and small parties. The hotel used to host regular small coach parties, providing dinner, bed and breakfast.

In the late nineties, they started to wind down the evening meal service, only offering on a limited basis. The demand was not strong due to a good choice of restaurants in the city. When travelling there as a tourist, you're more likely to want to go out and try new places than stay in your hotel for dinner.

He explains, "You really have, well, at this level, the level that we are at owning and running a place, you have to put in a lot of time while we're open. You have to be here virtually morning, noon and night. Somebody has to be here morning and night for arrivals and certainly overnight. And there's a big commitment in terms of presence, so you don't get a lot of free time."

Like many small businesses, the pandemic had a big effect. "It was very, very challenging. So in a way, I mean, the lockdown changed lifestyles for a lot of people, but it certainly gave us a different perspective on how we run the hotel here."

Iain stressed that he "knows it was difficult and challenging for a lot of people," but for some, it resulted in long-term positive changes. The lockdown provided an unexpected opportunity to reassess their work-life balance and make positive changes to their operation schedule.

Now, when you visit the hotel, you notice an interesting variety of items in the reception lounge. Iain explains that they have been accumulated over the year, and some are from the original MacDougall's hotel.

He still has the original iron gate from the previous hotel by the side of his house. Two propellers were made by his uncle, a carpenter who worked at the current hotel in the early days.

Some items are gifts from previous guests. When I arrived recently, I found Iain had been reupholstering some chair seats. A guest had given him the fabric, saying it would match well with the hotel, and it did very well.

The hotel's future may be his niece and nephew; however, they are too young to know if that is what they want to do yet.

"When I was growing up, I mean, I did a lot of work here when I was a boy, even a young boy, 12, 13, 14, 15. I did a job, jobs, all sorts of jobs here, and it kind of became obvious that I was probably going to head into this kind of career. But my parents always made a point of making sure that I knew, I personally knew that I was not expected to go into the family business just because I was born into it that they let me have a choice to do something else if I wanted or to explore different things."

When I spoke to Iain on the phone before the summer, he thought it would not be too busy. Still, when I returned to visit him in October, he was "frazzled" after a busy summer with an unplanned departure of a summer staff member who needed to leave during the peak season.

The hotel and its history were fascinating to delve into. They showed how the family business had been running for so long and adjusted to the challenges that had faced it over the years. The pandemic had also imprinted itself into its history, providing the opportunity to consider improving work-life balance.

I thank Iain for his time and the pot of tea we shared while we chatted. Iain shared so many fascinating stories about the hotel, the family, and items within the hotel, which I will share in the future to keep this read from getting too long.