Highlands and Islands Thistle Awards - Finalist!
About this time last year, I noticed the buzz around the finalists of the Thistle Awards. We decided to enter Loch Riddon Bothy in 2026. It would be interesting to see how we stood next to some of the top Scottish tourism businesses.
The Scottish Thistle Awards are an important celebration of the best of the tourism and events industry. They recognise those businesses, events, and individuals who work hard to change, innovate, and adapt to create the warm destination and visitor experience that Scotland is famous for.
Thistle Award
The awards are split into five regional ceremonies that take place each autumn (covering Aberdeen City & Shire, Central & East, Highlands & Islands, West, and South of Scotland). Category winners from these regional finals automatically progress to compete for the national title at a grand ceremony held in November.
Applications opened in March this year but before that we had spent some time online. There is a lot of reading as well as webinars and videos to help potential entrants apply successfully. The main takeaway was to take your time and back up every statement with evidence!
The Bothy looking over Loch Riddon at high tide
First was to decide which of the 15 or so categories we should enter. We decided on, ‘Best Accommodation or Unique Stay’. We chose this because of the explanation given –
‘Businesses that go the extra mile to provide a personal, memorable and authentic experience.’ I could have written that!
The online application form consisted of four sections. First an Executive Summary, not marked but this is to give the judges some background on what your business is and does. The following three sections carry equal marks.
· What is your approach to delivering an exceptional guest experience?
· What are your plans for the future?
· How do you embed Sustainability into your day-to-day business operations?
Woodburner lit!
Our application was completed and submitted by the end of April. The next thing was a phone call to say we had been longlisted and we set up a date for a Zoom meeting with three judges the following week. The Zoom meeting happened and was a bit scary because I couldn’t see anyone else! The other three screens were black… anyway the sound was fine! Each judge asked about an aspect of our application form – the whole thing lasted about twenty minutes.
On July 6th we got an email to say we had been shortlisted! A wonderful surprise. The following day, the shortlist was published and we were one of only three finalists in our category – the only one in Argyll!
Harris Hideaway is another finalist – what a beautiful looking place to spend a week on the Outer Hebrides. The third finalist is Boloquoy Victorian Farm and Watermill away up on Sanday, Orkney. The winner will be announced at a gala dinner in Inverness on October 9th – don’t worry, I’ll let you know!
To be honest, it feels as if we have already won – by getting this far.
