Historic family hotel on Skye owned by renowned cookery writer changes hands for first time in more than 300 years

Built as a farmhouse in the 1676, it was later converted into a hotel by one of Scotland's best known cookery writers, Lady Claire Macdonald, and her clan chief husband. Now, after more than 300 years in the Macdonald family, Kinloch Lodge, on Skye, has been sold to the Wickman family, who own two other hotels on the island, as they. The new owners, who are embarking on a phased £1.6million investment programme at the hotel, have promised to ensure its viability for 'generations to come' and aim was to 'enhance not alter' what guests already love about it. Lady Claire, who was reportedly in the running to replace Mary Berry as a judge on Channel 4's The Great British Bake Off in 2017, and her husband Lord Godfrey, High Chief of Clan Donald, previously ran the hotel until their daughter Isabelle took over in 2010. Kinloch Lodge on Skye has been in the Macdonald family for some 350 years The striking property on the shares of Loch na Dal has been run as a hotel since 1972 She said: 'Over more than five decades we established Kinloch as a hotel of global renown which feels like a family home to guests from all over the world. 'It means a great deal to us that the Wickman family value family hospitality as part of their vision for positive, generative tourism in our unique setting of Skye.' Built on the shores of Loch na Dal, the property became a shooting lodge in the early 18th century and has been run as an hotel since 1972. Edward Wickman, managing director of Wickman Hotels, said they had a 'great deal of respect for the legacy of the Macdonald family' and were 'very conscious of the responsibility that comes with continuing it'. He added: 'Kinloch is not an hotel to be reinvented, it is an hotel to be looked after.'