Loch Melfort wins ‘Scottish Hotel Oscar’

Calum and Rachel Ross, new owners of the Loch Melfort Hotel at Arduaine by Oban, have bagged their third national hotel award in three months, having been voted “Scotland’s Small Country Hotel of the Year” in last weekend’s Scottish Hotel Awards, known in the industry as the “Scottish Hotel Oscars”.

In a glittering ceremony at Prestonfield House in Edinburgh, Loch Melfort Hotel was recognised as a beacon of excellence amongst Scottish country house hotels.

The Scottish Hotel Awards are unique in that thousands of members of the travelling public get the opportunity to vote for the favourite hotels in a number of categories. The “Small Country Hotel” category is fiercely contested, and this award comes hot on the heels of the hotel winning the UK HRS Hotel Excellence Award for “Social Responsibility” and being featured in the prestigious and independent “Good Hotel Guide” for the first time.

According to Gary McLean-Quin, Chairman of the Judges, “the award for Loch Melfort Hotel is well deserved and was much supported by voters”. One of the factors which helped secure the award for Loch Melfort Hotel was its ground-breaking arrangement to support and manage entrance to the NTS Arduaine Garden, which until recently was under threat of closure, and which stands adjacent to the hotel overlooking Asknish Bay and the Sound of Jura.