Eriska, Scottish Island

Eriska new Blog location

We are moving to a new location

http://www.eriska-hotel.co.uk/Blog.aspx

Wet work!

As the weather suggests in this week’s forecast, winter is most definitely upon us!  We saw temperatures drop to below freezing on Tuesday night, although thankfully, have been spared any snow fall and are instead surviving the cold. Today, we were even treated to some midday thunder and lightning which thrilled our estate crew stuck out on the Golf Course, trying to press on with work on the golf course.

 

Luckily for our guests, the main house, accommodation and spa are all fully equipped and ready to handle whatever the winter throws at us – they definitely have the better deal. Despite the weather turning this week, work does not stop on the island inside or out!  Currently we have half a wall erected on our multi-purpose hall, following the completion of the roof at the end of last week which has provided some shelter, we hope to have one wall completed by the end of this week and a 2nd wall completed by the end of next week.

 

Meanwhile, also at the back of the Hotel, we seem to be collecting mountains of wine in preparation for our wine weekend taking place in less than two weeks!  Robert, in the kitchen, has been in talks with Cathryn Stockdale, who will be our resident wine tutor, to ensure he provides the perfect cuisine to compliment the wine, while Fabrice is keen to ensure that we do not run dry of any of our guest’s favourite tipples during the big weekend – fingers crossed. Luckily, all the wine tasting will be taking place in the comfort of the main house, so we can relax in the knowledge that regardless of the weather, the event will still go ahead!

Highlands and Islands Food and Drink Awards

Following our success early on Friday night with the hotel gaining the “Taste of Scotland” Scottish Thistle Award, we were thrilled to receive news that we have also won the Williamson Highland and Island Food and Drink Environmental Award on the same evening.  We were awarded the environmental award following recognition of the continual improvements the team at Eriska has put in place to reduce our carbon emissions as we work towards more sustainable operations from the resources we use right through to the end product.

These sustainable operations have not only been implemented in the kitchen but have also been transferred and embedded throughout other departments improving our hotel wide environmental operations.

Being the only hotel in our category made being shortlisted for this award an achievement in itself, so winning the award really does seem like an achievement.  This achievement would not have been recognized if it was not for the staff here at Eriska and their hard work and commitment which has helped us implement and improve our operations not only for our guests but for the benefit of our local community and environment.

However, as ever, these awards do make us sit back and relax as we believe there is always room for improvement which spurs us onto our next challenge.  We will keep our fingers crossed and ask you to watch this space…

Weather wc31st October

last week saw the steel structure for our new indoor facility being erected and whilst I was hoping for a calm week with nio wind so the crane could function properly, in all the panic about calm I forgot to ask for dry and boy did it rain! Indeed I do not think I have seen such heavy rain as regularly as we had last week but hopefully that bodes well for firstly the roof going on the frame and then the wedding next saturday! We can at least keep our fingers crossed so what really is all ahead?

Today: Any showers overnight will quickly die out. Then dry with clear spells and winds falling light. There will be some fog patches and a ground frost.

Monday: Dry and bright through the morning with fog patches slowly dispersing. Rather cloudy in the afternoon with a little rain but stregnthening winds,

Tuesday:A misty or foggy start to the day, and this may be slow to clear. Staying dry by day though.

wednesday: Dry  then rain and strong southerly winds edging in from Atlantic.

 

Thursday: Blustery showers and strong southwesterly winds 

 

Friday:. More wet and windy weather developing making it seem pretty unsettled.

 

Saturday:Today should see a change to quieter, drier and brighter conditions for the big day  although rain and showers are still possible

Eriska's first scottish thistle award

Last night we attended the Scottish Thistle Awards in Edinburgh. These awards come at the end of the traditional "summer" season and represent the highlight of the tourism provider calender with all thiose involved in teh uindustry collecting at the EICC and the annoncement of the winners. earlier tis year we were thrilled to have been selected as one of the finalists and throughout the evening we were continually reminded that not only was taking part an honour but that being selceted as a finalsit was a reward for all our hard work.

VisitScotland’s Regional Director, Scott Armstrong, stated that: “The Scottish Thistle Awards give us a great opportunity to showcase the very highest quality tourism businesses from the Highlands. I’m delighted to see Highland businesses shortlisted in this year’s Awards and the fact that they have been finalists and winners in previous years demonstrates the quality and consistency of the visitor experience in the Highlands."

However after waiting in anticiaption the name of Eriska was called out and we collected the wonderfuul statuette of a Thistle for the Taste of Scotland Category. After the ceremony we had a chance to mix and mingle with otehr finalsist and meet the judges. It soon became clear what highlighted Eriska for the award in the eyes of the judges. Roberts continual persuit of the best local fresh produce and his wonderful menus clearly won the day. After being nominated as a fianlsy we had 3 anonymous vsisits from the judges, luckily we had been unaware of these otherwise it would have heightened the pressure, and  then they selected us from a shortlist of three.

Having never won a Thistle award it was a great honour and is a real credit to the all the team who work here at Eriska and certainly spurs us on to continue what we do and how we do it.

Scholarship success

Late last week we received great news that one of our Duty Managers, Katharina, has been awarded The Savoy Educational Trust Philip Thornton Award for commitment to learning excellence.  The team here at Eriska are thrilled that one of our team members has beaten off stiff competition to be awarded this prize from the Academy of Food and Wine Service.  Following Katharine’s reference was sent to the judging panel, she was subsequently shortlisted and invited to the presentation of awards last Friday in London.

Late on Friday afternoon we received a call from an excited Katharina to let us know she had been successful and won the scholarship.   As a result of her hard work during her time at Eriska, she will now spend a week working at the Andaz hotel, a boutique Hotel in London - very different from Eriska with 267 rooms and situated in the centre of London.  Katharina has told us she is looking forward to getting the chance to experience the day-to-day running of a different style of hotel and see both front and back of house, furthering her knowledge of the food and wine sector in a different environment.

Meanwhile, two other members of staff are eagerly awaiting the results of scholarships they have applied for, with these results coming in the next month…Watch this space!  Until then, we wish Katharina the best of luck with her scholarship!

Weather wc 24th October

I suppose with the clocks changing next week and looking in my diary this is the last week of British Summertime so the optimist in me hopes for one last week of sunshine and the pessimist would say that we should start preparing for a harsh winter starting at the end of the week. In reality both will be true as with the gulf stream we will have a mild climate but that extends all year round so with last week we had stunning days flanked with complete wash outs so what is ahead for next week?

Sunday: After a very frosty night we should begin to see sunny spells

Monday: Any cloud remaining over the hills will clear, then it will be dry with long clear spells and a fairly widespread frost overnight.

Tuesday:Wet and windy weather will cross all parts during the day.

wednesday:A fine dry day with only patchy cloud and some sunny periods. Mainly light winds, fresh northerly breeze on summits.

Thursday: Another frosty start, all parts will have a fine, dry but cold day with plenty of sunshine and light northerly winds.

Friday . Brighter and milder on Friday with scattered showers and fresh southwesterly winds.

 

Saturday:We will have a largely dry and bright day o, although rain and strong winds are likely to spread eastwards across Argyll over the weekend.

Eriska's New Blog Location !

We are moving to a new location

http://www.eriska-hotel.co.uk/Blog.aspx

Deadline met with room to spare- just!

When we set out on major worked we always set targets which not only can we achieve but that we have a minor leeway if we hit a snag, however with our new indoor hall we set a target on the same principle however due to a stalled start date we soon used up the contingency and left ourselves with a deadline of tomorrow for phase one to complete. phase one is the ground works and completion of all work below ground level- the foundations, drainage , structural columns and floor slab. Yesterday in some of the heaviest rain witnessed here at Eriska we completed the major works leaving today- with the help of a brisk wind and sunshine to level out the surface and prepare the road for the arrival of the structure on Monday.

So no we are ready although tomorrow we will have to continue with the rolling of the surface to compact the slab in preparation for the 30 tonne crane and two low loads of steel. the next deadline will be to complete the structural erection and then clad it by the middle of November and then we will be back on site and finish the walls and storage areas. then it will be a matter of waiting for thefloor to dry out before we can complete the project, install the surface of the hall and have a grand opening- all seems so simple and so far so good!

5 Gold Stars!

Earlier this week we received great news from Visit Scotland...we have been awarded the highest award given out by Visit Scotland for a Country House Hotel – their 5 Star Gold Award!  Recognition has to be given to the team here at Eriska and the support from our guests over the years who have all contributed us receiving this award.

Regardless of our continual hard work to maintain and improve our customer service and standards through the hotel, facilities and the island, when it comes to inspections and reviews, we are always intrigued to hear their responses as different people will have differing expectations and opinions of Eriska.  Whilst we strive to exceed these expectations, it is interesting for us to hear feedback from these inspectors and reviewers as they see a variety of accommodation providers on a day to day basis and have to assess Eriska objectively.

When word reached us at the hotel that we had gained the award, with almost 100% in each category, it definitely made us realise that all our hard work does pay off!  The award highlights 3 key aspects which have long been embedded within Eriska’s culture; our Eriska Welcome, high standards of service and hospitality throughout each guest’s stay as well as our accommodation and facilities which we continually aim to improve year on year for the benefit and enjoyment of our guests.  The award also highlights the commitment towards our customer focused approach and underlying approach to staff training and development which together work hand in hand to create the Eriska Experience which many of you return to experience again and again.  However, this does not mean we will sit back and bask in the glory of receiving this accolade, rather we will strive to build on and improve our offerings – no rest of the wicked!