The Lochailort Inn will be open to Road to the Isles visitors this May - thanks to the hard work of its new owners.
Barry and Anikó Henderson took over the lease of the 11-bedroom hotel in December and are currently in the final stages of preparation prior to a planned May 1 opening.
The married couple, who met in hospitality 10 years ago and have an eight-week old daughter, Éabhie Rhu, have long made the Highlands and islands their home after originally hailing from Edinburgh and Hungary respectively.
Barry said: “We fell in love with the islands as well as each other."
Now they are taking on the challenge of re-starting an establishment that has been closed for the last year and a half, fuelled by the desire to be their own bosses.
Barry added: “We shook hands with each other and said that we’re never going to work for other people in hospitality again. Never again, unless it’s ours.
“We’d almost given up on that after Covid scuppered a couple of plans. But then this building came along. I said to Anikó: ‘Oh, no, I’ve got bad news. The Lochailort is up for sale’. We had to go for it because we know the area and we love the area.”
The Hendersons plan to buy the Lochailort Inn outright later and have a long-term vision of a quality destination that appeals to locals and visitors through standards and prices. An investment is being made in chemical-free wool mattresses, while offerings from the bar and kitchen will be community-minded, including a ’local beer only’ policy.
Barry added: “Local is very important to us. This is part of what we want to do. We want to support the local community and we want to give people an honest product here, for our staff as well as the customers around here.
“We don’t want plate decorations where they put a tiny bit of salad on top. We want to feed people. But it’s not haggis, neeps and tatties or fish and chips and nothing else. We want to take advantage of the local produce.”
So far Lochailort’s residents have been positive about the prospect of their local inn’s comeback.
Recruitment has been met with a strong response and social media has been awash with messages of support, as well as excitement for the inn staying open - albeit with reduced days - in the winter.
Before that, however, the Hendersons have to continue their preparations for May while a new website, thelochailortinn.co.uk, is also under construction.
Barry said: "It has been a lot of hard work, but it should be worth the effort in the long-run. We’re here for the long haul."
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