Bookings look healthy at revamped Inverness hotel
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When coronavirus lockdown restrictions were eased, bosses at Blackfriars in Academy Street decided to reopen the business in stages.
So far the nine hotel rooms have been welcoming guests and the number of bookings is proving to be better than expected. They are now planning to reopen the bar and restaurant this month.
Like other hotels in the city, Blackfriars was able to offer accommodation to key workers during the lockdown and licensee Billy McKechnie McKechnie said: “We had the air ambulance guys staying with us.”
Before reopening, the hotel put a range of safety measures in place to help protect members of the public and staff, including spacing between tables, hand sanitisers and a separate entrance and exit.
Mr McKechnie said bookings for the hotel had surprised him and added: “We were expecting something like eight per cent but were at 37 per cent for July and are at 57 per cent for August so far.
“The first guests to check in were from Holland – we’ve had a lot of Europeans coming through.”
He said it had been a long wait for the lockdown to end and the guests were relieved to finally be able to travel and visit the Highlands.
He said: “We’ve also had a lot of English people coming up on the overnight trains.”
Mr McKechnie said he was feeling optimistic for the future.
“Looking at the bookings coming in for the hotel, it looks like we might be able to salvage the rest of the year,” he said.
However, he said that plans to install beehives and a hydroponic garden on the roof – to produce honey and ingredients for the meals – had been put on hold for now.
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