Take the high road and find Scotland safe and open for tourism again

Having had two foreign vacations cancelled this summer, we decided to test the water by taking the high road to the Highlands and the low road to Edinburgh.

What we found is that Scotland is safe and open for business.

In fact one hotelier we spoke to believes that staycations could be the salvation of the Scottish tourism industry at least in the mid-term.

Our near 1,000-mile six-day road trip began with a duvet of rain clouds nestling on the hill tops and accompanying us for 300 miles north via Skipton until the shroud lifted as we reached our first overnight stay in the tourist ‘toon’ of Pitlochry.

From there it was another 90 miles of fabulous scenery to our only two-night stay at the dog-friendly 26-room Craigellachie Hotel, just off the A9 to Inverness, nestling below the main village and above the Speyside Way.

Its honeycomb facade means you cannot miss the building atop the 300-year-old inn known as the Copper Dog after the hotel’s own whisky now selling in 64 countries just four years after its launch.

Each bottle has an illustration of managing director Kevin Smith’s Welsh springer spaniel Alfie, drawn by renowned New York artist Hugo Guinness, whose linoprints of dogs adorn the walls.

With the hotel located in the world’s only malt whisky valley it was obvious they had to produce one of their own and the next out of the stable will be the Quaich, named after the hotel’s whisky bar which has 900 - yes, 900 - bottles of the ‘water of life’ lining its shelves.

Speyside boasts half of Scotland’s distilleries but with a zero tolerance approach to drink-driving it is best to imbibe in the bar after an 80-minute round trip walk down the river bank to Arberlour and also across to the cast-iron arch Craigellachie bridge designed by renowned civil engineer Thomas Telford and erected in 1814.

The pandemic and lockdown obviously impacted hard on the hotel, and its MD of 10 years Smith explained: “We were closed from March 17th until July 15 and it really did hit business badly as there is a whisky season up here, which is great for us. The season starts at the beginning of April and that’s when you see a lot of foreign travel coming to the area. We also have the Speyside whisky festival which is our biggest week of the year so it has been very difficult.

“We used the furlough scheme which worked very well for us and we have kept everyone on. It took a couple of weeks to see numbers pick up as people got a little faith back and the feeling that they wanted to travel again.”

Robust Covid-19 plans to avoid cross-contamination were put in place and your hotel room - ours was the fabulous honeymoon suite with views across the valley - becomes your own protective ‘bubble’ with no-one else allowed in throughout your stay. Breakfasts, too, have to be booked in advance to ensure social distancing rather than everyone turning up at the same time.

Smith continued: “For me the biggest thing we did was behavioural training with the staff for without it PPE equipment means nothing. We now have a 90 percent occupancy rate which is a regular summer occupancy. The place is as full as it could be and, although it’s not quite as vibrant as it used to be because we have no live music at the moment, we are trying to keep things as real and as authentic as possible.”

Looking ahead, he continued: “I wish I knew the definitive answer as to how important will staycations become but I think we have seen such a strong response at the moment and I can only imagine that if there are enough hospitality businesses doing a staycation really well then it will have a knock-on effect for next year.

“You can really design a nice little trip around staycations and people are really getting inventive. So, absolutely, staycations could be the saviour of the tourism industry and not just for Scotland.

“I really do hope people realise what we have got on our doorstep. There is plenty to do and it is just about educating yourself to a different style of holiday.

“Scotland is open for business. We are here and can put some great itineraries on for you.”

Too soon, it was time to depart and, no, we hadn’t lost our marbles when we decided to venture further north to the city of Elgin, the start of the whisky trail, before driving another 175 miles the following day via the bottleneck of the A9 Perth roundabout to the country’s capital.

‘Welcome back’ read the signs as we entered Edinburgh - but at £4.30 an hour for meter parking that rang a tad hollow until a space became available at our hotel.

Our destination was the splendid and luxurious The Bonham hotel set in a leafy crescent in the West End of the city, just a five-minute stroll down to the mile-long Princes Street below imposing Edinburgh castle.

And once we had sampled its award-winning afternoon tea complete with a glass of bubbly in one of the plush Georgian and Victorian lounges, our annoyance over parking charges disappeared - even more so when we entered our spacious suite designed by award-winning interior designer Nigel Howard and overlooking Drumsheugh Gardens.

Business is also picking up at the Bonham, though they, too, have been hit by the absence of coach parties from the States.

However, the comparative quietness could mean it is the ideal time to book. For us, though, a one-night stay was never going to be long enough as we set off on the long drive home after enjoying the delights of a full Scottish breakfast, complete with tattie scone and haggis.

FACT FILES

Built in 1893, rooms at the 26-room Craigellachie Hotel cost from £165 per night. A comfy luxe room costs £260 per night including breakfast based on two people sharing. Contact: Craigellachie Hotel, Craigellachie, Speyside, AB38 9SR and www. Craigellachiehotel.co.uk

The Bonham Hotel, Edinburgh, is the ‘Luxury City Hotel of the Year’ in the 2020 Scottish Hotel Awards. One of the city’s most stylish hotels, featuring 49 en-suite bedrooms, room rates are from £149 bed and breakfast for a double. Contact: www.thebonham.com