A hotel that famously hosted the Scotland football team in the 1970s closed its doors during the past week.

The Queen's Hotel in Greenock Road suddenly shut down last week with signs outside stating that it was due to a forthcoming refurbishment.

Guests who had booked the Greenock Road premises for the weekend had to be accommodated by other hotels in the local area, the 'News' understands.

The matter was also raised at the Largs Community Council meeting by Councillor Ian Murdoch who pointed out that closed for refurbishment signs had gone up, while community councillor Anne Carson said she knew of people who had bookings cancelled.

A spokeswoman for the Queen's Hotel said: "The hotel is closed for a full refurbishment and will be open in the new year.

"The closure was more sudden than expected because we had a hot water issue, and we had to bring forward the refurbishment."

It was during a Scotland stay in 1974 at The Queen's Hotel that Celtic legend Jimmy Johnstone went for a row on a boat at Largs seafront, and ended up out at sea and had to be rescued by the local lifeboat in a story that is famous in Scottish football folklore. The national football team would regularly stay at The Queen's Hotel in the 1970s.

The Queen’s is one of the few existing examples of a much-loved bygone era of hotels in the town with a classic Tudor style architecture, and has been based on Largs seafront for decades, appearing in tourism brochures going back to the 1940s and 50s.

The hotel website states that it offers 14 rooms, of which 12 are en-suite and two are family rooms with private bathrooms.The front rooms have panoramic views across the sea to the Isles of Cumbrae, Arran and Bute with views of Mount Stuart House.

Pic: John Keachie.