Royal Northern Infirmary Hotel

A 45-room boutique hotel is planned inside Inverness's B-listed former Royal Northern Infirmary, a 19th-century hospital building on Ness Walk vacated by the University of the Highlands and Islands in 2023. Developer CJ Hospitality won change-of-use planning permission on 1 April 2026 despite 67 letters of objection from neighbours, but has not announced a hotel brand, name or construction start date.

The place

The building sits on Ness Walk on the banks of the River Ness, a residential riverside street close to the city centre. It is the early-19th-century former Royal Northern Infirmary, Inverness's original general hospital, which later served as University of the Highlands and Islands administrative offices until it was vacated in 2023.

The concept

CJ Hospitality's plan converts the vacant, B-listed former Royal Northern Infirmary — never previously operated as a hotel — into a 45-room boutique hotel with a reception, bar, guest lounge and kitchen facilities. No hotel brand or property name has been announced yet; the name used here follows this site's practice of using the project's site reference for unbranded projects. The application drew 67 letters of objection from riverside neighbours, largely over parking and traffic, before Highland Council's planning committee recommended approval and granted change-of-use permission on 1 April 2026. The applicant volunteered planning conditions ruling out long-stay use.

Dining & wellness

NC — plans describe a reception, bar, guest lounge and kitchen facilities, but no operator, chef or dining programme has been announced.