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…