Don't stay in this Hogmanay, This one is special there is blue moon in the sky.

In reality it is not likely to look quite as this picture would have you believe. I think it has had a wave of a photoshop wand, but since I didn't take it I cant say for certain. I found it here, http://gizmodo.com/5435190/.

My point is that this Hogmanay night, Thursday 31st December our night sky will be lit by a Blue Moon. This is the second blue moon in a month and since a lunar month is 28 days and our calendar month is only a few more they are rare enough, but to occur on the last day of the year is a coincidence not likely to happen again for another 20 years. So don't stay indoors, come out for the night. Enjoy the company of friends, a fine dinner, dancing and piping and celebrate this auspicious night.

Both Lands of Loyal Hotel in Alyth (01828 633151) and the Raemoir House Hotel in Banchory (01330 824884) are open and have a few places left. So don't delay give us a call and make a rare night of it.
Happy New Year
and best wishes
David and Verity Webster

Christmas Decorating at Lands of Loyal

Well done to these fine people here for decorating the massive 22ft tree at the Lands of Loyal today. It is quite magnificent and more pictures will follow here. But to see it for real, why not come up to the hotel on Tuesday 1st December 3-6pm for a complimentary drink and Christmas Canapes. David and I will be there, along with various members of staff, and we are looking forward to meeting you and sharing some Christmas cheer. All the hotel decorations will be up by then and are pretty confident you will love them. Bring the children as we will have a little Santa dip for them.
Hopefully see you Tuesday.
Verityx

Meet your local hotelier

We recently hosted the Glamis Senior Citizen Friendship Group to an afternoon of tea and bed bouncing, but reaped much more than we ever expected. We rekindled local support for both Castleton and Lands of Loyal from a very discerning and insightful group of local ladies. Before the cooking demonstration we invited the Ladies to inspect and probe all nooks and crannies of the bedrooms even to pinch the bathroom free bees, (but they didn't). We were quite happy to face the consequences of their findings and this set the tone for the rest of the afternoon, it was open, honest and friendly and altogether an experience that hoteliers should put themselves up for, more often.

So it was, with this new found determination to boldly invite criticism, in whatever form it came, that the ladies tucked in to their tea and scones. Only it wasn't criticism that came my way, it was in fact a fascination for hotelkeeping. It is a dispiriting fact that that only after a hotelier has met every mental, emotional and physical challenge imaginable, someone will say that its a profession any fool could do. The ladies however were kind and sympathetic to the daily tribulations at Castleton and the Lands of Loyal. They wanted to know about the people we serve, the staff we employ the suppliers we use and of course the accidents and mishaps. Everybody likes the mishaps, such as pigs escaping whilst a wedding party enjoy drinks on the lawn or Sharon Stone having lunch without anyone realising it. Then there are the public dramas that everyone else has in the privacy of their own home, such as radiators bursting and bats flying in through bedroom windows.

But no one aspect can cause a hotelier to lose more sleep than the staff they employ and I was delighted to share some insight of the agonies as well as the joys of employing people. I am the first to admit that across our three hotels we have had some dark moments and I wish I could say they were all behind us. But unfortunately about the only prediction I dare make about this varied and wonderful career is that we will, despite our best efforts to avoid it, be let down at some point again. And all I would ask is, if it is you, is please show us some of the sympathy and understanding that the Glamis Village friendship group showed me the afternoon they visited Castleton.

Blairgowrie and East Perthshire Tourist Association

I was recently invited to take the last place on a committee of a local tourist association representing Blairgowrie and East Perthshire. I can not deny that I was honoured to be asked but I have had my fingers burned in the past with committees and did not want to revisit that particular hell. Their efficiency depends entirely on who else is at the table, and especially who is at the top of it. Egos and chatterboxes are strictly not welcome.

Some wise man said; to vote, a committee should be an odd number, but three is really too many.

So it was with some apprehension that I took my seat. BEPTA (Blairgowrie and East Perthshire Tourist Association) is actually a rare committee. One of hardworking professional and committed people. We all have experience of tourism in different ways, so the whole spectrum is evenly represented. The offices are held by people who weren't crow barred into it and everyone keeps the focus of the area and membership in mind. This is the committee for me. I actually want to be there and do my bit.

The membership is well beyond 100 and ever growing; as the new girl I would like to earn my place by drawing in 3 new members a month until the end of the year. With rates that vary between £30 and £55 a year depending on the size of business, it is well worth it.

Activities of BEPTA include attendance at top level trade shows, advertising in various publications, promotions both local and UK wide and representation on local council projects. Places that are just simply unrealistic for small operations.

There are plenty of marketing gimmicks out there making wild promises and charging 10 times as much. Some of them may even persuade you, I know I have fallen for some myself but BEPTA is £35 we spent wisely.

If anyone would be interested in learning more, please get in touch, I would strongly recommend it to anyone involved in tourism however slightly, in the Tayside area.

I have been told that I should start a blog. So here it is.
I hope for everyone's sake I find it easier to navigate than facebook. I will post something more interesting soon, but for now I shall just leave these few underwhelming sentences.

For anyone who may read this up, trust me my posts will get more interesting.
Surely not! I hear you exclaim.

best wishes
Verity