A hotelier at one of Glasgow's most popular wedding venues has treated his staff to a holiday in Spain as work begins on a £1.5million revamp of the building.
George McCulloch, who owns the Sherbrooke Castle Hotel in Pollokshields, is to build an extension, a conservatory and bedrooms with the aim of improving its status grading from a three star to a four star-plus.
Electric cabling work and a new air-conditioning system are already underway.
Mr McCulloch, 57, said he had sent 14 staff to Spain for a break while the first stage of the project was carried out.
He said: "They have been working hard."
Agency workers have been drafted in while the 14 bar, restaurant, kitchen and housekeeping staff are in Spain. Some will return this week, while others will stay longer to enjoy the sunshine break.
The £150-a-night hotel, at the corner of Sherbrooke Avenue and Nithsdale Road, has 21 rooms, but this will be reduced to 17 after the renovation.
The renovation plans were given final approval by the
city council yesterday, but the hotel is a B-listed building so the plans must also go to Historic Scotland for final approval, which is likely to take a few weeks.
Only a few letters of objection were received, including one from Pollokshields Heritage Group.
The major changes will involve demolishing a 1960s bungalow in the grounds of the baronial building, which has five bedrooms. Five new bedrooms will be built above the function suite.
Other rooms will be extended when partitioning walls are removed.
Mr McCulloch says work will stop during the hotel's busy period between April and October, during which 145 couples will marry.
It is hoped the work will be completed by December.
Mr McCulloch, who bought the Sherbrooke nine years ago, said: "It was refurbished three years ago, but in this business we must keep on developing.
We are very excited about the whole thing and I think the hotel will be fantastic once the work is completed."
Sherbrooke Castle was built in 1896 by Morrison and Mason. The firm was also the contractors for a number of other magnificently designed projects, including the City Chambers in George Square, the Clyde Trust buildings in Robertson Street, and Coats Memorial Church in Paisley.
During the Second World War, the castle housed the Royal Navy and after that became a hotel. It was designed by Robert Sandilands and John Thomson, the eldest son of architect Alexander 'Greek' Thomson.
