SLTN Hotel of the Year 2008

On Thursday 23rd October the prestigious Scottish Licensed Trade News annual awards were held in Glasgow at the Hilton. Robert and Chris attended as Rohaise and I were away on holiday and they apparently enjoyed themselves very much. We had been short listed for Hotel of the Year after having entered for the whisky bar of the year. The judging was a very personal in that they visit the property for a show around and ask a number of questions about business, training and your views on hospitality. I thought that as we knew the type of areas they would be asking questions on, we would put together a short presentation to prempt their questions and show The Torridon in a favourable light. Chris was tasked with putting together the presentation with a little guidance and on his 15th attempt he struck gold and the presentation was deemed worthy. He must have been thinking what did I let myself in for?

On the judging day Chris did a marvellous job and I assisted in a ‘Debbie Magee’ capacity of operating the photos on the laptop while he spoke passionately about Torridon. The judges were visibly impressed with our efforts as no-one had ever given them a presentation before. I answered a few business like questions and left Chris to answer about his positive experiences at the hotel, the opportunities he had been given and what he had learnt….I would contest some elements of the last part. The judges were shown around and left with a very good idea of what The Torridon has to offer. I have to admit that after listening to Chris I felt very encouraged about what Rohaise and I offer our staff and customers and felt that even I would want to work here.

The awards evening was a very biased affair in that everyone appeared to come from Glasgow or Edinburgh. Being sponsored by drinks companies ensures that there is plenty of free liquid refreshment available and by the time the awards came around the audience was well oiled! The entertaining comedian did not last 4 minutes before being sent packing. The hotel award came around and we were proud to be announced as the winner against The Old Course St Andrews! Chris and Robert went up to receive the award and are pictured here with a couple of beauties!

Well done to all those who work at The Torridon and long may the success continue!