A HISTORIC West Fife hotel is up for sale as its owners look for a prospective buyer after four years at the helm. 

John McTaggart, along with his wife, Elisabeth, first took over the Woodside Hotel in Aberdour in late 2017 renovating it into a modern venue for weddings, live music events and celebrations. 

It’s not known why the couple have but the hotel on the market but they have previously said that its viability stood “in question” in plans to scale back the business by building residential houses earlier in the year. 

Estate agents Regents are marketing the B listed building as offers over £750,000. 

The Woodside has 13 ensuite rooms, two bar areas, a function room, a dining room and an outside dining area.

It also boosts the stunning ‘Orontes Ceiling’ in the dining area. The first 24 years of this stained-glass vault’s life was spent on the RMS Orontes as the centrepiece of a first-class dining saloon on the ocean liner travelling between London and Australia before coming to Aberdour.

John and Elisabeth also own the popular McTaggart’s cafe/bistro in the village. 

They have special memories of the hotel and as locals got married there in 1996. 

John told the Press in 2018: “We want to take it back to its former glory with it having such an amazing history and being built in 1873.”

Pre-COVID, the business was busy and it was also established as the hotel as a venue for golf parties, forging good relations with Aberdour and Burntisland golf clubs.

The McTaggarts were granted permission in 2018 to change the use of parts of the hotel in Aberdour to two residential townhouses but, following added pressures from the economic stress of the pandemic, they asked to vary that consent last year. 

They were also hit with more bad luck in August 2020 when a once-in-a-life time storm caused significant flooding damage in Aberdour.

In response, they modified layouts to reduce the number of changes required, to allow them to retain more of the existing building and reduce the scale of the proposed extensions visually, believing this would make construction more cost-effective while improving layouts and securing the future of the hotel. 

A statement on Regents to prospective buyers says: “It is likely that significant housebuilding will take place in Aberdour in the next few years, bringing with it footfall. 

“A Co-op store is to be built next to The Woodside, bringing more footfall. 

“The hotel was flooded in the remarkable storm which hit Aberdour. 

“The owners are about to commence refurbishment and this would be an ideal time for a prospective buyer to engage with the owners.”

The McTaggarts were contacted for comment before going to print.