Loving it at the Lovat
What I would like to do is share with you what I do & what I am attempting to develop at the Lovat.
David & Geraldine, my parents have been involved in the hospitality industry for 30+ years. I grew accustomed to the hotel way from the word go. My parents have worked exceptionally hard throughout their lives & in all honesty I didn’t want to follow in their footsteps because that seemed like a cop out. But, as I outgrew London & David outgrew retirement - our business venture made sense because we were twinning his experience & my youth. David, Geraldine & I took over the Lovat in June 2005.
Even though the hotel was dated, un-loved & tired there was something enticing about the hotel’s warmth. I knew it had potential.
Since the acquisition, the hotel has undergone massive refurbishment & despite owning it for nearly 4 years now, we have only really had 1 fully functioning year of trading as this new revamped business.
Blood, sweat & tears have all been shed but within 1 full business year, we were named by the P&J as 2007 top 10 restaurant of the year. Envirowise honoured us for our environmental achievements at an SCDI event, with an award for Resource Efficiency. Recently, the Lovat has also been awarded the VIBES award for small business management of our environmental vision. This to me has been a highlight as we can now go forward for a European Environmental award which would take our recognition to another level, There are other awards to go for but I am now looking internally, to staff development. I won an Acorn Award in 2007, which celebrates those under the age of 30 who are making a difference. I gained a HiT scholarship, enabling me to go on a management course to refocus my vision on the hotel in 2008. 2 staff & I have also been awarded scholarships in 2009. All of this helps us to continue to create our Lovat culture to build our Lovat brand.
The Lovat staff are dedicated, passionate & believe in what they are doing at the hotel. We offer a relaxed & friendly atmosphere that thrives on a genuine & natural hospitality. More importantly - we care.
So, ‘loving it at the Lovat’ actually came about from our guests. They started to say that they were loving it, we caught on to the caption so incorporated it into our business plan & it is now our promise. I mean how much more powerful can you get? Having a promise solely brought about by the people who are going to be using our product.
We take guest feedback very seriously & act on all occasions. We use comment cards that are also universal & can also be used to measure ourselves against competitors. One big feedback area for us is TripAdvisor. We actively use this to respond to our guests & to also see how other businesses are doing.
Lovat Arms’ prime location, Loch Ness, needs no introduction. The hotel, on the other hand, is finally finding its feet in terms of market positioning & its business comfort zone. This doesn’t mean that it is waiting to be found, instead it is realising its potential & is actively pursuing every market because it feels that it has something to offer everyone.
The Lovat is pretty centrally aligned to most key visitor attractions in the Highlands, making it the perfect place to rest for a night’s stop-over or for an even longer stay.
The hotel has a traditional Victorian charm that is delicately balanced by contemporary modernism. The open log fires & comfortable furnishings offer a relaxed ‘kick back’ atmosphere with an ability to either remain disconnected from the outside world or stay in tune with life’s modern conveniences.
The kitchen is aspiring to 2 rosettes using as much local & Scottish produce as possible. The flare, dedication & passion placed on the preparation of each dish, is inspiring & exciting.
The housekeeping team pride themselves on attention to detail with emphasis on those little added touches that make a stay special.
There is a drive & a passion rippling through each department as the team gain momentum in their natural ability to offer a genuine heartfelt service. The team is professional yet friendly as we love what we do.
We hope that you will too & ‘Love it at the Lovat’
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