Tributes paid to founder of One Devonshire and Malmaison Hotels

Glasgow-born Ken McCulloch was one of Scotland’s most successful and innovative Hoteliers.

21st Nov 2024

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The founder of some of Scotland’s most luxurious and best-known hotels, Ken McCulloch, has died aged 76.

Born in Glasgow in 1948, Mr McCulloch forged a career over five decades as one of Scotland’s most successful hoteliers.

Beginning as a commis chef, he worked at The Malmaison restaurant in Glasgow’s Central Hotel, Gleneagles in Perthshire, and had a short period with Stakis Hotels.

He then stepped out on his own and opened La Bonne Auberge, a wine bar in the Park Circus area of the city, before making his way to Royal Exchange Square, where he opened Charlie Parker’s bar and restaurant.

In 1986, he opened Glasgow’s first boutique hotel, One Devonshire Gardens, with his interior designer wife, Amanda Rosa.

The founder of some of Scotland's most luxurious and best-known hotels, Ken McCulloch, has died aged 76. — The founder of some of Scotland’s most luxurious and best-known hotels, Ken McCulloch, has died aged 76. Atalanta

With Andrew Fairlie as head chef, the hotel gained a Michelin star in 1996 and became known as one of the most luxurious hotels in Scotland.

He went on to found the Malmaison Hotel Group, whose first hotel opened in Edinburgh in 1994.

Four years later, McCulloch sold up and moved to Monaco, where he bought the Abela Hotel with business partner and racing driver David Coulthard.

He and his wife Amanda then created the Dakota Hotels group in 2004 before returning home to Glasgow in 2009.

McCulloch said the best advice he ever received was from Fernand Point, chef of the Michelin-starred Le Pyramide near Lyon: “Success is the sum of many small things correctly done”.