[1][3] The hotel was owned by Johann Kristof Wilhelm Rusack (1849–1916) along with a group of Fife businessmen.

Rusack was a local farmer, owning Bogward Farm,[6] he had originally come from Bad Harzburg in the German state of Lower Saxony.

[13] The 42,000-square-foot (3,900 m2) £7 million six-storey extension will create 44 more bedrooms to the west of the hotel on the car park, with a 3,000-square-foot (280 m2) rooftop bar and restaurant for 145 diners.

[14] In 2015, Macdonald Hotels applied to Fife Council for planning permission for the new development; however, this was initially refused on the grounds of its "impact on a conservation area, negative impact on residential amenity and reduction of parking".

[16] Macdonald Hotels appealed the decision on the basis that Fife Council had failed "to give enough weight to the economic benefits of extending it".