The 1950s (covered in the previous post) seemed to be a decade of glamour and success at the Lundin Links Hotel. The Sixties began on a strong footing and in fact an annexe building was required to cope with demand for rooms. Mr and Mrs Muriset had purchased Glenairlie on Crescent Road around 1950 as their home and several years later they were able to buy Bourtree Brae House next door. As the image below shows, the house was within sight of the hotel and only a short stroll away.
The hotel produced a promotional pamphlet highlighting the enviable location on Largo Bay - "a veritable Scottish Riviera" - which had "been compared to the Bay of Naples". Both the cuisine and the wine cellar topped the list of features within the hotel itself - "some very fine vintages". New baths had been installed and the "latest type of bedding". Aside from the bedrooms, there were two "delightful, restful lounges" and a ballroom and recreation room. Heating was a mix of real fires, electric fires and radiators. Other services available included the option to be met at the railway station by a hotel porter, the attention of a doctor by arrangement and large garages one minute away (on Woodielea Road). As always, the hotel emphasised the proximity to golf courses. Other sporting pursuits were also mentioned, such as tennis, bowls, sea-bathing, fishing, boating and angling. Even motoring was considered a pleasant pastime for the holiday-maker!
However, change was afoot. Firstly, in 1962, after thirty years service, manageress Miss Cameron died. Three years later the railway line through Lundin Links and Largo closed to passenger services. In 1966, the Murisets decided to retire - 34 years after taking on the hotel. Never again would anyone come close to retaining ownership of the hotel for such as lengthy period. Huge changes had taken place during the era of Freddie and Jean Muriset. In the East Fife Mail of 9 November 1966 Mr Muriset commented that there had been a 100% increase in the number of people eating out at hotels and that quality of food had greatly improved. He also remarked that "running a hotel is very much a 24 hours a day job". The couple had certainly devoted a huge chunk of their lives to the Lundin Links Hotel and had enjoyed doing so.
Mr J.W. Mathison of Workington (pictured above) succeeded the Murisets at the Lundin Links Hotel in 1966. The advert below from very early on in his time as proprietor, took the concept of the 'Scottish Riviera' to a whole new level, claiming (over-optimistically) that "Caribbean Sunshine" could be found just over the border in Scotland (21 January 1967 Newcastle Journal). He took the hotel into the 1970s, which is where the next part will pick up....
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