Opening in 1895 this building was originally called the Grand Hotel. Commissioned by Thomas Hamilton allegedly after the Royal and Ancient Golf Club rejected his membership application.
During the Second World War the Hotel was requisitioned by the Armed Forces and it never returned to being a hotel.
After the war it was aquired by the University of St Andrews and between 1949 and 2006 it was use as one of the Halls of Residence. In 2006 it was sold to a group who had hoped to turn it in to a prestigious residence club, however they seemed to run out of money and in December 2009 Herb Kohler bought the building. Kohler also owns the Old Course Hotel in St Andrews, (among others) and currently has plans to restore Hamilton Hall.