A Tayside hotel with a rural Post Office service closed with guests still inside after the owner suddenly took ill.
A Danish farming couple and a Dundee woman and her dog woke up at the Glenisla Hotel near Alyth on October 4 to find the building deserted.
The woman said a cleaner later told her the hotel would be closing for good at 11am. Staff member Willie Peacock said he had taken his partner, business owner Michelle McKiever, to hospital due to a “sudden illness”, leaving the cleaner to cook breakfast and tend to the guests.
He confirmed the accommodation side has now closed and only the bar will continue to trade.
The hotel had housed a Post Office service two days per week, which will now come to an end.
Mr Peacock said: “The owner had to go into hospital on the Friday morning. Obviously somebody had to take her, which was me.”
The hotel has been on the market for a number of years and its asking price was recently reduced by £30,000 to £265,000.
The Dundee guest, a retired local government officer, said the building had been “like the Mary Celeste” when she came down in the morning.
“I had booked on September 21 to go on October 1 for three nights,” she said.
“When I got up on the Friday morning around 7am the bedroom was stone cold, there were no radiators on and no heat.
“I got up to take the dog for a walk and there was nobody in the hotel at all, and the owners cars that had been parked outside were not there.
“The Danish couple were in the lounge and asked if I knew the hotel was going to be closed for good.
“Around 8.30am a cleaner appeared and apologised for being late.”
A Post Office spokesman said: “We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused by the temporary closure of the Post Office branch in Glenisla.
“We appreciate that the nearest alternative service is some distance away and we would like to reassure customers that we are working hard to restore Post Office services to the community as soon as possible.
“The Post Office is fully committed to maintaining a physical presence in the area. Any relocation of the service would be subject to public consultation.”