“An Orcadian welcome”
As told by Julie Rickards
"My mum was Orcadian and I visited practically every year of my life as lots of family were, and still are, here. Orkney always felt more 'home' to me than where I lived in the south, but life got in the way and trying to figure a way to move here was hard!
My mum's death focussed my mind that life is short and if you have a dream, you should find a way to make it happen. But it would take 10 years of plotting and planning, I also met my husband Mike half way through that time. Eventually we worked out that a B&B would be ideally suited to us with our previous experience of customer service-based careers. Mike is a trained chef and baker, although he had not worked in this area for many years. Whereas I love to meet people and to bake!
We didn't want to live in a town, and we really only wanted 3 guest rooms. So, when we spotted Straigona for sale, a purpose-built B&B, on one of the estate agent websites, we immediately sent my cousin (who did many 'pre-views' over the years) along to see it. It appeared to have the best of both worlds, countryside and sea views but only 5 miles from Kirkwall. She said it was ideal and when we viewed it, we had to agree, it had everything we wanted except the two acres I would have liked, but half an acre is plenty!
We set about putting our own stamp on the house and have done lots of work to the rooms and en-suites to make them as comfortable and welcoming for our guests as possible. Plus I got the hens I had always wanted plus guinea fowl, ducks and quails. Unfortunately, due to the lack of land, I had to give up my dream of owning alpacas!
We consistently attain high review ratings on TripAdvisor and have many repeat guests. The variety of home bakes supplied for guests to help themselves to may be something to do with it! We firmly believe in supporting other local businesses wherever possible and use local produce as much as we can. We also offer evening meals on request, and this has proved to be very popular with guests.
Because of my passion for Orkney, I have actively involved myself in the Orkney Tourism industry in several different ways, for example I set up a B&B Owners Group which works very well with us all offering tips, advice and support to each other, we aren't in competition, we work together. For a number of years, I have been approached by several people for advice on setting up and running a B&B, which I have been very happy to do. This has involved them visiting me to see our set up, and taking away ideas from it, and me visiting their property and offering ideas and advice. Everything from soft furnishings to breakfast to online booking systems… All of these people have gone on to run successful B&B businesses themselves.
So, to answer the question Why Orkney? Quite simply, I wish that I'd done it years ago... I now live in the place I love and run a business which I love, who could ask for more?”
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10 Ballifeary Road,Inverness,
IV3 5PJ
07920 404 163
info@beourguestscotland.co.uk