Press release -
Grantown guest house is golden
A family-run, historic Highland house has attained a coveted ‘Gold’ award to add to their four stars from the national tourism organisation.
Strathallan House was already a 4-Star Guest House but has now been awarded the added ‘Gold’ status from VisitScotland, representing the continuing attainment of outstanding customer service and hospitality for its guests.
Situated in the historic Highland town of Grantown-on-Spey and just a 20 minute drive from Aviemore, the historic house was originally a Victorian villa built in the early 1900s. The house has retained a remarkable amount of its original features.
There are five bedrooms available at Strathallan House, all of which are individually designed, en suite rooms. There are two four-poster rooms available, one king room, one double room and also a super-king room which can be offered as a twin or single room.
The owners pride themselves on offering luxury with a personal touch - providing a quality experience for their guests has always been a priority.
Guests can relax in the breakfast room and enjoy the tasty local produce on offer at Strathallan House as they have also been awarded Taste Our Best - a joint initiative between VisitScotland and the Scottish Government. Launched in 2013, the scheme is designed to recognise businesses including hotels, restaurants, cafes, takeaways, visitor attractions and B&Bs that not only offer a quality food and drink experience, but include and promote Scottish produce on their menus, to give consumers choice.
Strathallan House sources all meat from the local butcher - Grants of Speyside, the eggs used are collected each morning from their own hens and the freshly ground coffee is from Cairngorm Leaf and Bean, who roast their coffee just a few miles from the house.
Strathallan House has also joined the VisitScotland Information Partner (VIP) programme, through which the national tourism organisation works in partnership with businesses to recognise the work they are already doing in enhancing the visitor experience and bringing the Spirit of Scotland to life, including the provision of visitor information.
Isla Game, Owner of Strathallan House, said: “We feel that being awarded the Gold status from VisitScotland is in recognition for the hard work and energy we have put into our family business. It highlights the high level of service we offer guests who stay with us, we like to go above and beyond people’s expectations and just love to make Strathallan House a memorable place for people to stay.
“It is all about creating an overall experience for our guests, from sourcing local fare for our breakfasts, to showcasing some of the best of Scottish design with interiors from companies such as Timorous Beasties and Harris Tweed. We want to offer people the whole experience of what true Highland hospitality is about.
“The Quality Assurance scheme gave me the opportunity to work with people who have had experience in the hospitality industry, and helped to boost my confidence when I first started up Strathallan House. The scheme gave me a solid foundation to work from and develop my business.”
Cassie McEwan, Industry Relationship Manager at VisitScotland, said: “What a fantastic achievement for Strathallan House. All of Isla and Spencer’s hard work has truly paid off. They have reached such a high standard and are meeting and exceeding customer expectations which is crucial to the region becoming a must-visit, must-return destination. I hope it inspires others to strive for such results.
“Strathallan House is an exceptional example of a business that is working in partnership with VisitScotland – making the most of our opportunities and drawing on our impartial advice and experience to invest in and develop their business.
“Our Quality Assurance scheme helps businesses to reach their full potential and truly shine. The scheme is about more than just the ‘stars’ on the door - it’s about the entire visitor experience, about investing in your business and making it as sustainable as it can be.
“My sincere congratulations go to Isla and Spencer, on this outstanding achievement and I look forward to continuing to support them in maximising the potential of their beautiful property.”
Topics
- Tourism
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
- This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
- Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
- Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
- Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
- Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
- Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
- Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
- Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
- To ensure everyone can safely enjoy Scotland’s amazing countryside and landscapes, VisitScotland encourages all visitors to fully respect their surroundings by behaving in a responsible and appropriate way.
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP
- The Scottish Government is the Managing Authority for the European Structural Funds 2014-20 Programme. For further information visit www.gov.scot or follow @scotgovESIF
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh) 2017 Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology
- 2017 is the year to delve into the past and discover Scotland’s fascinating stories through a wide-ranging variety of new and existing activity to drive the nation’s tourism and events sector, boosting tourism across Scotland.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology begins on 1 January 2017 and will end on 31 December 2017. It will build on the momentum generated by previous themed years in Scotland including the 2015 Year of Food and Drink, Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Creative Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Built Environment Forum Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund, Museums Galleries Scotland and Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is supported by £570,000 of Scottish Government funding.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
- For more information visit visitscotland.com/HHA2017 or join the conversation at #HHA2017
