Glenburn Hotel history

As the ferry from Wemyss Bay approaches Rothesay, the main town on the Isle of Bute, you catch a first glimpse of the imposing Glenburn Hotel. With its colonnaded terrace and impressive gardens spread out far below, the hotel sits grandly on a hill on the eastern shore of Rothesay Bay.

Originally the Glenburn Hydropathic when it was first built in 1843, this important building will be the venue for this year’s Bute Noir events, allowing visitors to the increasingly popular Crime Writers’ Festival the opportunity to enjoy a little of Rothesay’s past.

The Glenburn was the first of several Hydropathic hotels built in Scotland. In those days hydrotherapy was seen as an alternative to the prevailing medical treatments of the time, focussing on “the spiritual and physical properties of water”, taking lots of fresh air and keeping to a simple diet. A sign of the importance of the hydropathic movement was that 47 rooms were dedicated to this, although some of the treatments appear rather daunting!

In Victorian times a trip to Bute was the highlight of the summer for many Glaswegians but The Glenburn was a place for the wealthy, easily accessible from the Broomielaw on one of the many steamers sailing regularly between the city and the Isle of Bute. The interior of the original building reflected the expectations of this clientele with marble floors, Persian carpets, Turkish baths and, as a sign of different times, several smoking rooms. No alcohol was allowed : the hydropathic movement was in step with those who favoured temperance, another popular movement of the Age.

A fire in 1891destroyed the original building and the rebuild which began in 1892 focussed on the Glenburn as a hotel rather than as a hydropathic. In 1938 the building was updated with a considerable number of internal alterations and what you see today is much as it was then, with the addition of some modern amenities!

As you enjoy the comforts of this historic hotel, perhaps sitting with a drink on the terrace to watch the sun set over Rothesay Bay, spare a thought for those Victorian guests and their somewhat different experiences of The Glenburn.

Myra Duffy