ANDY Murray and his wife Kim own a luxury hotel that has a strong family connection and history.
The Cromlix hotel in Kinbuck, Scotland has been owned by the tennis ace and his wife since 2013, but has been an important place for the Murray family since the early 80s.
It sits close to Andy's home town of Dunblane and he has owned it for the last ten years, after splashing out £2million on the property.
Andy and Kim had their wedding reception at the venue in 2015, like several generations of Murrays before them, while his brother Jamie was married there.
Kim explained to the Times why it is such a special place for their family.
She said: “We have owned Cromlix since 2013 but its connection to our family extends back far beyond that.
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“In 1982 Andy’s grandparents, Roy and Shirley Erskine, held their silver wedding anniversary at the hotel …Golden and diamond celebrations followed, as well as blessings, birthdays and three Murray weddings — one of which was our own in 2015."
The pair are preparing to renovate the property and have closed it for the next three months, as they look to breathe new life into the 15-room venue.
Kim is personally overseeing the work and said she wants to it to be more to her and Andy's tastes than it is at the moment.
She continued: “This is very much a family affair and I am delighted to be getting involved in overseeing this makeover, selecting wallpapers, toiletries, logos and everything in between, so that Cromlix becomes more reflective of our tastes and attitudes.”
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6The hotel's rooms are named after Scottish legends, including the likes of Sir Chris Hoy, Sir Alex Ferguson, Annie Lennox and William Wallace.
It also has an Albert Roux restaurant within its 34 acres and has won several high profile awards, including Scottish Hotel of the Year – a title it has claimed twice.
It is not going to be the first face-lift the two-time Wimbledon winner has given the building.
In fact, if Andy's mum Judy had had her way, Andy would not have bought the hotel – because she said it was crumbling down and had bats living in the library.
But Murray initially commissioned a full renovation project before re-opening the hotel doors in 2014.
It now has ten bedrooms, five luxury suites and a one-bedroom gate lodge.
They all include 32-inch TVs disguised as mirrors, 400 thread Egyptian cotton bed linen and spectacular views – with some even coming with hand-painted freestanding gold, silver or bronze baths.
However, that could all be set to change in the next renovation, with bedrooms, bathrooms, communal areas and grounds all in-line for refurbishment.
Amazingly, Cromlix House actually had an indoor tennis court in yesteryear as Judy discovered when she went to scout out the property but by then it was covered over and the old shed was used for storing farm machinery instead.
It was after that visit she strongly urged her son – who is now based in Surrey with Kim and their four kids – to steer clear of buying it, thinking he wanted it to live there.
Judy told the Walking The Dog podcast: “The agent who was in charge of selling it came into my brother’s optical practice in Dunblane and gave his card and said, ‘Cromlix is about to go on the market, if the family are interested let us know before it goes on the market.’
“I happened to be on the phone to Andy that night and I told him. He said he would quite like to buy it.
“I completely did my best to put him off. I told him, ‘It needs far too much work, it’s freezing cold, there’s bats flying around in the library, you definitely don’t want to do this.’
“But he was adamant that he wanted to buy it.
“That started us on a chain of finding a management company that managed these type of country hotels and he decided to go for it.”
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