Stromness hotel ‘worth the wait’ for new owners

Good things come to those who wait, or so the saying goes, and that certainly rings true for the new owners of The Royal Hotel in Stromness after an 18-month wait to finally get the keys.

Colin and Catherine Buchan will officially take over the ten en suite bedroom hotel on Victoria Street on Thursday.

The transfer of ownership marks the beginning of a new era for not only the couple and their two young children but for hospitality in Stromness.

The couple have long earmarked The Royal as a business which they felt they could build on and develop.

However, complications with Catherine’s job, visa issues and the arrival of their son has meant that the takeover has been in the works for the last year and a half.

Now that the day has finally arrived that they walk into the hotel as owners, the couple say they are fully prepared and are excited to usher in the new era.

The couple have purchased the hotel from Gareth and Karen Crichton, who have owned the hotel since 2017.

“I think we’re past the nervousness point now,” said Colin, 37, who is from Stromness, but prior to moving back home six months ago, was living in Los Angeles where he met his wife Catherine, who hails from the City of Angels.

“After a year and a half of it, I think we’re just really excited to get stuck into it.”

Developing a strong sense of community, music and theme nights, new menus and a refreshed and restocked front and back bar, are all on the couple’s radar, as they plot out putting their own stamp on the business.

But first they will take the opportunity to find their feet at the property, which, as well as the guest rooms, features a front bar, lounge bar and function room for special events.

Catherine explained that accommodation bookings would be taken immediately and they are planning on having both front and back bars open as soon as possible. The couple will also work on getting the kitchen up and running as quickly as they can.

In addition, the couple are planning some modest improvements in the coming weeks and months.

“We’re actually going to close the front bar for just a couple of weeks to freshen it up a little bit, with the back bar still running,” said 35-year-old Catherine.

“But we’ll have through the whole winter accommodation, restaurant, and the bar all operating.”

Far from being daunted at becoming Orkney’s newest hotel proprietors in the quieter autumn and winter months, the couple believe it will stand them in good stead.

Catherine said: “I think our opportunity with the timing of us taking it over as well is just obviously the winter months give us some time to get our footing as well as really build out our outreach with the community.

“Some of the ideas are really to try and bring people together, especially in the winter months, before all the tourism starts and then things kind of really kick off with the Folk Festival and Shopping Week and so forth.”

Laying down their roots in Stromness marks a full circle moment for Colin, who was a chef for the best part of a decade.

Travelling the world, he moved to other industries including working in operations for the leading vending service provider in Los Angeles.

Since the couple moved back to Orkney six months ago, he has worked for Swannay Brewery.

For American Catherine, to own a hotel in Orkney is a surreal moment for the mum-of-two, whose background is in human resources at Fender Guitars.

The couple have a daughter, two-year-old Chase, and a son, Mason who is nine months old.

The stepchange and transition from seeing their children embrace life in Orkney has been heartening.

“Living in Los Angeles with two young kids can be quite a different life growing up,” said Catherine.

“And so being able to move back to Orkney, where it’s so safe and such a great place to raise kids, with so much freedom and friends and so forth, really has made the transition to just living in Orkney in general much easier.”

This weekend saw a fiery final fling for the Crichtons who bade farewell to The Royal with Orktoberfest.

The Buchans paid tribute to the previous owners and thanked them for all their support.