Southend building, wotsit?

[daftdog]

Curious to know who actually owns the Keil building now.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

[oorly gourlay]

Try this link, I think the lady has owned it for a few years.

http://www.saa.gov.uk/dab-vjb/search.php?SEARCHED=1&SEARCH_TABLE=valuation_roll&ASSESSOR_ID=dab-vjb&SEARCH_TERM=southend%2C+SOUTHEND%2C+CAMPBELTOWN&DISPLAY_COUNT=10&TYPE_FLAG=C&ORDER_BY=SET+DESC&DRILL_SEARCH_TERM=SOUTHEND%2C+CAMPBELTOWN&DD_TOWN=CAMPBELTOWN&DD_STREET=SOUTHEND&PT=1&DISPLAY_MODE=FULL&UARN=01%2F01%2FA58500%2F0600+%2F&PPRN=17010632&ASSESSOR_IDX=4&#results

oorly

[daftdog]

Cheers oorly.

Just wanted tae be nosey and see if it changes hands when landscaping the new golf course gets under way.

Handy site link as well..

[Elizajayne]

Annie you are right Terry the Canadian used to own Keil Hotel his wife was a local lady called Marilyn McGeachy - (George MacMillans sister in law) their daughter is called Virginia.
The Kelly family from Southend owned it at one point too.

[Beachcomber]

Was a rather nice postcard of the Keil Hotel on Ebay this last day or so. I was bidding for it but it went over my limit.

[Annie]

I thought it had a pool, but I must have been thinking about the tennis court.

Is the gatehouse still there too???

[oorly gourlay]

The photo shows why the building is now in ruins - a too large expanse of flat roof that was badly maintained allowing water to destroy the fabric.

oorly

[Beachcomber]

It is an outstanding art deco design though. I would have loved to have seen it when it was newly finished.

[Annie]

I spent a long weekend in the hotel with my famly! The whole lobby and the dining hall - and the bar area were wonderful. Not to forget the Butler Quarters as well as a beautiful patio and dumb waiters in each of the hallways for the laundry, etc. The carpeting was brilliant, and the art deco furnishings very cool!

But even then. it kinda smelled a little musty. Must have been the damp seeping in from the roof!

[suemcnee]

We visited the Keil hotel in 1983 for our honeymoon - advertising guaranteed sunshine or £10 off your bill ! It did rain but the money was well spent at the bar being entertained by the delightfull owners.The owners at the time were two young couples we think from Glasgow. We are heading back there again tomorrow to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. It is so sad to see it as it is now on the web.

[Bobh]

The Hotel was brill when it was open. I started going to Southend when i was 17 (1979) and the hotel was very popular. I remember the advertising that if it rained during your stay they would deduct £10 from your bill. I frequented it from the camp site and had many a good night. The view over to Sanda on a summers night will never leave me. It actually closed on October 1990. Still walk pass it regularly and have walked up a couple of times but it's quite dangerous if you can access it.

[Mary G]

Those were great days in Southend, Bobh. From 1979 until the end of the 1980's. Regular dances and discos in the Hall, and also in the sheds/ annexe buildings owned by each of Keil and the Argyll. People used to travel from Carradale and Tarbert to go to them. Great nights, indeed.

As an erstwhile resident of exactly your vintage I guess I must know who you are.

[sooze]

not just 1979-end of 80s. I remember Southend Argyll (especially the staff caravans for parties), Keil and Hall in the 60s and 70s. Makes me feel old

Sooze

[sconeface]

It would be lovely and very interesting to see any photos from when the Taylor/Kelly owned it. I believe in those days it was THE place to stay.

[EMDEE]

I was talking to someone yesterday who had visited Kintyre for the first time, and had spent a bit of time in Southend. She was asking what the "building" was. Is there any prospect of anything being done with it, or is it going to continue to be an increasingly unsightly and dangerous eyesore, a blot on the landscape, and talking point for visitors?

Surely Argyll and Bute Council have some responsibility, indeed duty, to compel the owners to do something with it, as they did last year with the Argyll Hotel in Oban which has lain derelict for a number of years now. The Argyll (which is also a listed building) is in the centre of a town, but Keil is in an even worse situation as a mouldering hulk in an area of natural beauty. Why is no action being taken?