No rest for the wicked!!

Sometimes when we reopen after our brief respite in January we grimace as guests arrive and ask us if we enjoyed the break or even if we had a good holiday- in reality we often work harder when the hotel is empty as we can get many jobs that need work completed without the continual interruptions and this year is no different. Although the painters may beg to differ as it seems no sooner have they covered corridors in dust sheets and started painting than one of us walks through and disturbs the from their hard work or joiners working on the new balustrade on the front stairs just complete the set up of working scaffolding than we have to ask them to move as we need to push past to reach the top floor.

However as always we try and complete a number of tasks that will be instantly appreciated and a number behind the scenes and this year we set about the usual mix with the corridors and front stairs getting makeover and behind the scenes the new wood pellet boilers being installed along with a whole new hot water system All these changes have been planned and programmed allowing time and thought to prepare us for them but the biggest change this closed period was not planned or predicted by me but came as a complete surprise as the day we closed at the beginning of January Chay announced his intention to leave Eriska and head for Africa to be closer to Anna- his wife's- family.

So although on the surface we hope to be able to continue as normal behind the scenes we Will have to adapt to the changes and re-balancing of roles within the hotel and most importantly the estate. He finished his current role at the weekend and Willl be around the scenes for another month before moving on. It does therefore offer us the opportunity to look back both a at life before Chay returned and since he arrived back from his last adventure overseas. He has now been back at Eriska for just over 10 years and during that time he has both seen and overseen many changes and developments, but he now feels it is time for a new venture and naturally, although he will be missed, we all wish him well.