Hotel entrepreneur. Born and brought up on the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides, Macdonald was the son of a crofter who began working in junior positions in various hotels before joining the Stakis Group in 1969. Within two years he was a hotel manager and was soon overseeing the opening of new properties for the company. He was then appointed Regional Manager for Scotland and North England and ultimately led the Stakis Hotels & Inns division. In 1990 he left to establish Bathgate-based Macdonald Hotels. This began with just two hotels in Aberdeen and Peterhead, but grew to become the largest hotel and leisure group in Scotland, worth around £160 million. The grew to more than 100 hotels and resorts throughout the UK and Spain - including the four-star Holyrood Hotel in Edinburgh and the Cardrona Hotel, Golf and Country Club near Peebles. Having floated the group on the stockmarket in 1996, Macdonald returned his hotels to private ownership in 2003 through a £590-million management buy-out. Twenty-four hotels were sold in 2007 for £400 million to reduce debt. He brought his son Ruaridh onboard as a director in 2009.
He was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Aberdeen in 2007.
