Donald Sinclair (hotel owner)
Donald William Sinclair (10 July 1909 – 5 September 1981) was an English naval officer and hotelier who helped run the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, Devon. Born in Ireland, he began his career in the Merchant Navy before joining the Royal Navy Reserve at the start of World War II.
During the war, Sinclair survived the sinking of several ships. He was on HMS Salopian when it was torpedoed multiple times in May 1941 and sank after a final blow. He later served on HMS Karanja, taking part in the Madagascar invasion (Operation Ironclad) and the Allied invasion of French North Africa (Operation Torch). Karanja was hit and sunk in November 1942. From 1943 to 1945, he served on the escort carrier HMS Trumpeter, escorting convoys to the Soviet Union and taking part in operations in the Far East. He left the navy in 1946 with the rank of paymaster lieutenant commander.
In 1940 he married Beatrice Coutts Ritchie. After the war Beatrice opened Greenacres in Torquay, and together the couple transformed and ran the Gleneagles Hotel. The hotel began taking guests in 1963, earned a four‑star rating, and the Sinclairs ran it until selling in 1973. The Gleneagles later joined the Best Western chain, closed in 2015, and was demolished soon after.
A connection to Monty Python arose when the cast stayed at Gleneagles in 1970, and John Cleese drew inspiration from the couple for his Basil Fawlty character in Fawlty Towers. Beatrice said Donald was a gentleman and brave, not the neurotic hotelier shown on screen, though some staff felt parts of the portrayal reflected him.
Donald Sinclair died in Torquay in 1981, aged 72. He and Beatrice had two daughters.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 20:58 (CET).