Double Award Winning Clachaig Inn!

We seem to have done rather well at the recent 2011 Scottish Hotel Awards, winning not just one but two awards. To say that it's a pleasant surprise is somewhat of an understatement! And we're especially chuffed becuase to win anything at all, you have to be nominated by you, the public, our customers.

First of the awards is a coveted Design Medal for our bedroom refurbishment. We've been telling you that it turned out rather well for a while!

We wanted to refresh our Ossian Bedrooms, and give them a bit of a lift and a touch of that luxury feeling whilst at the same time retaining that traditional Clachaig comfort. The en suite bathrooms were completely gutted to make way for new baths and full height floor to ceiling tiling, whilst the bedrooms themselves got a sumptuous makeover with some very carefully selected wallpapers and new soft furnishings.

We do have to take some of the credit for the scheme ourselves. Interior Design was never something that we thought we'd excel at when we started out running an inn. But there again, neither were a dozen other trades and skills that you quickly acquire when you're thrown in at the deep end with a business to run!

However, we do need to thank Burns Design for pulling the pieces together from the scattered corners of our brains so well and turning it into a viable and successful project.

And the second award was a Commendation for Hospitality & Welcome. Reading through the feedback we receive, both through our bespoke in-house scheme, and on Facebook (with the exception of the guy that didn't like our green pea soup!) this Commendation should come as no surprise to our customers.

Clachaig is nothing if not based on the good old traditional values of a warm welcome. And in this regard we have to thank our staff who keep on making it happen, quite often when under pressure and in sometimes trying circumstances. A big thank you!

But this isn't the end of the story. No, in good Oscar acceptance speech style, we'll drag this one out a bit further yet. We've already had the confidence to continue with some of the momentum we've attained. There is of course the Childrens' Play Area, which judging by the number of we'ans having fun on it over Easter is £15,000 well spent. And then there's the rolling out of the soft furnishings through our Lodge Bedrooms, plus a more moderate decorative makeover in time for the season really kicking off. We get the feeling that it won't be long before the rest of the bedrooms are brought into the fold.

And that's not all... But you'll have to wait a bit longer for more news!

Easter sunshine - get your top off!

Fiddling on the roof

The difficulty in trying to mend a roof that leaks like a proverbial sieve is predicting a reasonably settled spell of weather to allow us time to fix it. So, after checking out the weather forecast for the next week or so we've taken a gamble and set to work. Fingers crossed for the glorious weather to continue, so far so good and hopefully an end to staff & customers alike tripping over buckets & basins every time we get a heavy downpour - not that rains that often in Glencoe!. 

Glencoe's lastest 'Munro' in the making

Easter holidays coupled with glorious weather in Glencoe means lots of thirsty visitors at Clachaig. We recently added a selection of traditional lagers from WEST Beer to compliment our extensive range of cask ales and they're going down really well - too well in fact and the empties are starting to pile up. I expect they'll eventually come and collect the empty barrels when they notice they've none left to fill for our next order!

Lashings of ginger beer.....Enid!

New for Easter is a cheeky wee ginger beer from those clever chaps at Williams Bros. We love it and at 3.8% ABV it is refreshingly, eh!.. ginger, so we think you'll love it too. That'll teach those cads at Crabbies!

See you at the bar folks.....unless you're all too busy with the Royal wedding of course.

How clean is your Glen?

Where's Kim & Aggie?

 With spring well and truly upon us Clachaig staff ably assisted by Thomas from the Youth Hostel and Keith from the Glencoe Independent Hostel spent the morning collecting litter from Glencoe village to the A82 junction.

Along with our neighbouring accommodation providers we recognise the need to operate our business so as to minimise our impact on the environment.

No real 'treasure' found this year but we did come across 4 unopened cans of  lager between here & the campsite....discarded in favour of a real pint in the Boots bar no doubt.

Can you tell what it is yet? (day 3)

The secret is out. Partly because there's a big play frame sat outside the inn now, and partly because we tagged our blog entry with CHILDRENS PLAY AREA!

Anyway, the frame is now all but complete and as soon as the little finishing touches are added the landscaping will start. Hopefully we'll have the new addition open for the end of next week.

It's been a long time coming, but we already think that although we've had to wait we've definitely made the right  decision. It looks fantastic, and the kids are going to love it. And chances are, that will mean that mum and dad will love it too.

We're off to write our risk assessments now, which will extend to, amongst other things, keeping the big kids off it!

Can you tell what it is yet? (day 2)

There were a few slightly concerned faces on some of the staff this morning (though work rates did improve considerably!)

 However, a few sighs of relief this afternoon as things progressed a little further.

Can you tell what it is yet?

The diggers are back at Clachaig again. But what are they up to this time?

Check back here again later in the week and all will be revealed!

Day of days at Nevis Range

An overnight frost, clear blue skies and amazing visibility, and huge amounts of snow following the storm at the weekend... Yes, today was a day to tell the folks in the office that I'd be "working from home"!


Dropping in to Chancer's at Nevis Range from Ed Daynes on Vimeo.

Best day of the winter. Well, so far!

At the top of Winger's Wall, with Spean Bridge and the entrance to the Great Glen beyond.

 The Rum Cuillin were clearly visible in the far distance today.

Hope it rains tomorrow. My knees can't stand another day like today!