HOTEL CONFIDENTIAL: Balbirnie House - Scotland's 2020 Wedding Hotel of the Year!

In the week leading to 26th April Balbirnie House was notified that the 2020 Scottish Hotel Awards would be taking place in The Virtual World.

The brigade were then informed of this, via our Closed Group 'Balbirnie Buddies' Facebook page, which we have in situ during lockdown, to keep everyone fully appraised of progress whilst trading is suspended.

So, on the Sunday evening for the awards ceremony, the team got our kilts, tuxedos, gladrags and ballgowns on, grabbed some 'refreshments', and headed on over to meet for the awards ceremony via Zoom video and audio.

For those who attended, it was to be a 4 hour conversation which I'm very sure, none of us will ever forget.

Vibe manager Angela Ferguson and Special Events Sarah Rees were delivering a continual flow of information from The Scottish Hotel Awards Facebook page.
A few screen grabs taken prior to the dancing starting:

Next morning:

Truly remarkable circumstances. Yet again!

And so, into the newspapers:

Fife Free Press: Fife hotel breaks records with 14th award

(Image credit via Isobel Russell)

The Courier: Balbirnie House Hotel clinches top wedding accolade for record-breaking 14th year

Image credit via Rob Thomson/ Lifetime Photography.

Well, over the last 12 months we've certainly found ourselves in unexpected circumstances, thereby delivering an ongoing flow of information for the judges of The Scottish Hotel Awards scheme.

Worth highlighting, Best Wedding Destination Hotel on the Planet.

Our 3 decades of Hospitality summarised in under 20 minutes on YouTube - Today is Not a Dress Rehearsal for Tomorrow.

Following which, we saw Balbirnie breaking new ground with The Contemplation of Social and Sensory.

And so, onwards we go.

The in-house tradition of having multiple team meetings every last Tuesday of the month 12 noon - 4pm, considering our ongoing evolution continues, albeit we're paused during this temporary lockdown. These meetings tend to be about remaining ahead of the curve, continually embracing change as we always need to keep finding new ways to work, without losing sight of where we've come from.

Nearly every single wedding client 27th March - 19th July 2020 has now successfully postponed and re-scheduled their intended special days. We continue to remain in a very carefully managed holding pattern, working with future clients one week at a time, allowing for at least 2 calendar months of contemplation. And stating the very obvious, we cannot wait for the day that we can welcome our colleagues back to Balbirnie, and then open again for guests.

As part of our evolution, at the point of suspending trading, we were about to go live as Scotland's first hotel to deliver a completely new approach to how we highlight our wedding and banqueting menus, with a full shift into online and visual.

So, this will be the first part of our updates for the consideration of judges for the 2021 Scottish Hotel Awards!

A quick taster of this project, and a massive thanks to Executive Chef Oscar Sinjorgo, our kitchen brigade, and all of the team who have been involved with delivering this unprecedented project in conjunction with Naomi Vance Photography.

As always over these recent years, we are so very inspired by the Archie Forrest artwork collection throughout Balbirnie House, Scotland's leading contemporary Colourist painter's 'Electricity with Paint' focussing us each day on vibrant colours.

For the first time ever, here's a snapshot of what our new 2020 banqueting would have been delivering 1st May 2020 onwards, and will be delivering when we fully re-open.

5 contemporary Scotland food photographs, from 300 taken on the day!

Showing future clients how individual dishes 'fit together' within the structure of a multiple course menu:

This main course below is Breast of chicken 'Vallee d'Auge', with caramelised apple, mushrooms and a Calvados creme fraiche sauce. It's our best selling banquet main course, of all time!