“Homemade, homegrown, homespun”

• Locally made crafts
• Seasonal, freshly harvested vegatables
• Artisan food from local producers
• Delicious homebaking, breads and other tasty treats
• Coffee, tea and cakes served in the pop-up cafe

Venue: Kames Recreational Hall
Times: 10am to 1pm

Dates:

Sat 11th May
Sat 8th June (part of the Kyles Music Festival)
Monday 1st July (part of the Fife Regatta celebrations)
Saturday 6th July
Saturday 3rd August
Saturday 7th September
Saturday 7th December

Tom is a champion of seasonal Scottish produce and only the best will do when it comes to selecting the finest produce and ingredients for his restaurant The Kitchin which he opened in Leith in 2006. So we’re chuffed to bits knowing that one of the best chefs in the country would choose to come to the Royal an Lochan restaurant for his ideal meal.

Why not see for yourself what all the fuss is about? Like Tom, we change our menus with the seasons and our Seafood Menu is a firm favourite, always featuring amazingly delicious fish, shellfish and crustaceans landed fresh from the fishing boats in Tarbert.

Keith celebrating Kyles' Camanachd Cup win in the Shinty Bar

After the game, the team came home to Tighnabruaich to celebrate in the Shinty Bar here at the Royal an Lochan for a few pints and drams with Keith, Christine, the locals and some Kyles Athletic veteran players also joined in the celebrations.

The last time Kyles won the Camanachd Cup was in 1994 and after Kingussie and Fort William’s domination in the last 18 years we hope this is the start of a run of more successes for Kyles.

More photos of the Shinty Bar celebrations are on the Royal an Lochan Facebook page.

For those that have stayed or dined with us recently, you may have noticed the fishing vessel that has taken up anchorage outside the hotel. Local residents, Stuart and Yvonne and their children (Gemma, Ashley and Cameron) have bought this wonderful boat to renovate and convert into a spacious, comfortable family cruising boat.

Fishing boat Jasper moored in front of the Royal an Lochan.

The boat’s original name was Jasper, and although it has had a number of other names Stuart will be going back to its original name. So we would like to welcome Jasper into the stunning views from the hotel by keeping a blog on her progress. Progress may seem slow to start but Stuart has a five year plan to complete the renovation, which includes doubling the size of the existing wheel house and converting this 59’ long and 18’ wide vessel to the eight births he has planned.

Jasper was built by Alexander Noble and Sons of Girvan, a company founded in 1946 and were one of the finest boat building companies in Scotland. Jasper was launched in 1968, weighing some 30 tonnes; she was set to work as a ring-net vessel, fishing for herring during the boom times.

For those interested in the technical stuff, so far I have learned from Stuart that it has a 230 horse power Gardner 8L3B engine which he hopes to fully restore back to its original condition.

Trawler Jasper in her new Kyles of Bute home for the summer

Jasper’s next trip in a few weeks time will be to Ardmaleish Boat Yard, based at Port Bannatyne on the isle of Bute, where she will stay in dry dock for 3-4 weeks undergoing work to her hull, propeller and work to re-sealing her deck. Then she will be back outside our hotel for a month or so until she goes to her winter mooring further north past Rhuban.

We wish Stuart all the best with this renovation and look forward to updates from him, which we shall pass onto you in our blog.

Christine

Therefore in April we took on a lovely couple, who have numerous years in the hospitality trade, and we are pleased to introduce you to Gabi and Andrea. Both Gabi and Andrea have the same mindset as us, making sure that you, our guests, have the best and most memorable stay in our lovely hotel.

Gabi and Andrea outside the Royal an Lochan, summer 2012.

We are leaving them to run the hotel for two days a week, allowing us to enjoy some well earned time off and allowing us to catch up on the mundane parts of running a hotel, paperwork and maintenance. We would personally like to thank Gabi and Andrea for all their help so far.

We are extremely proud of all our staff here at the hotel, we are only a small team of ten even in the height of the season and I am sure you will agree with me they all make every effort to make your stay as comfortable as possible.

To qualify for the Certificate of Excellence, businesses must maintain an overall rating of four or higher, out of a possible five, as reviewed by travellers on TripAdvisor. Additional criteria include the volume of reviews received within the last 12 months.

We are delighted to receive a ‘TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence’,” said Keith Bettis, co-owner of the Royal an Lochan with his wife Christine. “We strive to offer our customers a memorable experience, and this accolade is evidence that our hard work is translating into positive traveller reviews on TripAdvisor.”

Read about our guests’ experiences by reading their reviews on the Royal an Lochan TripAdvisor page.

Phil and Kirstie from Channel 4's Relocation Relocation

Towards the end of 2009 we were contacted by Channel 4 to start filming with Phil and Kirstie for Relocation Relocation. We started filming in February and had a brilliant time with them and all the crew, special mention to Katy who took note of every detail after spending hours discussing our thoughts for our dream hotel. Filming was tiring, with a lot of sitting around but also a wonderful experience.

Our episode was shown on 27th January 2011 and proved to be a big hit. If you missed our appearance on Channel 4′s “Relocation, Relocation”, watch it on 40D.