About Auchrannie

Auchrannie Resort was founded by Iain and Linda Johnston in 1988 to provide Arran with the indoor leisure facilities needed to become a successful tourism destination and to help make the island a great place to live, work, and visit all year round.  

At the time, Arran had few indoor wet weather facilities, no distillery, brewery, chocolate, or cheese shop, and visitor attractions were few and far between. Quality visitor accommodation was also scarce, and the tourism season started at Easter and finished at the end of September.  

The Johnstons bought Auchrannie as a 16-bedroom private hotel with 27 glamping-style “Ranchettes.” Their vision was to create quality hotel and self-catering accommodation to support an indoor pool for the community and Island visitors. However, one pool was not enough to satisfy demand, and over the years, the facilities and accommodation grew, and Auchrannie had to become a fully featured resort to achieve a sustainable business model.  

In 2017, Auchrannie became Scotland's first employee-owned resort, ensuring it would always remain an independent, locally run business with community values at its heart. The Trust Deed ensures that the resort is run according to its original values and “reason to be” and prevents the sale of the business to any third party.  The resort is now an iconic, much-loved, multi-award-winning, industry-leading hospitality business that is Employee-owned and committed to Fair Work.  

Since Auchrannie Resort's inception in 1988, Arran has become a thriving, popular, high-quality destination that attracts visitors throughout the year and is a vibrant place to live, work, and visit. The development of Auchrannie Resort, its facilities, and its community ethos have played an important part in Arran's resurgence and its sustainability for future generations of islanders and visitors.