Diary of a Hotel Renovator

18/01/2025

What a wonderful sight to see - our cosy bar jam-packed this afternoon with a huge walking group from Aberdeen! Refreshing pints all round, and most definitely kept Dan busy behind the bar! 🍻

05/01/2025

🍗 Who's ready for their first Sunday Roast of the year? 🙋‍♀️ Yup, me too - AND it's my personal fave: Chef Colin's mouthwatering roast chicken with all the trimmings 💖 Come and claim your seat from 12pm!

02/01/2025

⭐️ Can you tick off all 6? You might have seen posts like this before, but as we hit the toughest months for businesses - and hospitality in particular - the above GENUINELY really help 💖

This is our own version I've made - there's things that don't cost a penny, and things that do - keeping a business & building of this size going during winter unfortunately doesn't come for free, so every little REALLY DOES help 🙏

If you want local businesses to be there for your spring celebrations, summer parties, and autumn get-togethers, then we need your help during winter 🫶

Our team are looking forward to welcoming you - whether it's a wee coffee, a lunch date, a cheeky night out, or a surprise party, we're here to make it special, and hugely appreciate your support, whatever the season 😄

30/12/2024

📣 We've just had a cancellation for a table of 6 at 7:45pm tomorrow (HOGMANAY) - we can split it into a 2 and a 4 if required. Last available tables for Hogmanay eve. Please call the hotel ASAP to book 01828 920 090 📣

30/12/2024

🍾 We have just 6 SEATS remaining for dinner on Hogmanay, so if you want to do your dining & dancing in one spot you need to be FAST! 💨

Remember - anyone eating in on the night will receive a complimentary wristband for the rest of the evening 🥳 We've got a LIVE band playing from 9pm, 2 bars open, a piper at the bells, and a late license til 1am 🥂

Fancy joining us for the party? Tickets are available from the hotel bar priced at £5 per person - an absolute STEAL 🙌 Can't wait to see you there!

27/12/2024

🍕TONIGHT🍕 We've got a low-key treat for you: freshly made pizzas with your choice of toppings, followed by choose-your-own ice-cream sundaes! 🍨😋 All accompanied by LIVE MUSIC from Ben Jarvis & hosted in our cosy bar 🎸 See you there from 6:30pm - 10pm! 🤘

26/12/2024

🥳NYE PARTY🌟PIZZA NIGHT🌟OPEN MIC🎙

🎟 Rock up and GET YOUR TICKETS to the hottest NYE party in town! 🤘

Say goodbye to 2024 in style as we host awesome cover band Jonny Lee Good from 9pm - they'll be playing ALL THE HITS while you mosey between our 2 bars 🍻 We'll have a real live piper to pipe in the bells for the whole toon, and we're licensed til 1am 🙌 Live Music will become disco after midnight, or potentially karaoke if the mood takes you! 🎤🤩

Tickets available from the hotel bar, so pop in or give us a call today! ☎️

We've got more fun to come BEFORE New Year's with:
🍕 Pizza & Ice Cream night on Friday 27th
🎙 Open Mic Night on Saturday 28th
🍖 Sunday Roast Beef on Sunday 29th
🥧 Not to mention we're serving food ALL DAY on New Year's day

Book ahead to make sure you bag your spot! 🍽

25/12/2024

🎅 MERRY CHRISTMAS! Our bar is open all day, so whether you fancy a pint with your dad, need to escape the in-laws, or you're Christmassing solo this year, pop in and raise a glass with us 🍻

Sending you our very best seasons greetings, from the whole team at The Alyth Hotel 🎄

23/12/2024

🎙KICKING OFF our festive entertainment line-up TOMORROW Tues. 24th Dec. with Ben Jarvis Music, a brilliant singer/songwriter from Perth, who'll be bringing his soulful voice and a mix of originals & covers to The Alyth Hotel.

Music starts at 7pm in the restaurant so why not book yourself a table to enjoy our Festive Menu - if you're saving yourself for The Big Day we can do Starters & Desserts, no big helpings required! 😅 If there's space you can join us for drinks only, we'll just go with the flow, but booking a table is the best way to bag your spot 🙌 The fires will be lit and a very warm welcome awaits!

(See below for our full What's On guide! 🤩)

20/12/2024

If you missed the switch, we've got a🍴WHOLE NEW DECEMBER MENU🍴for you to explore! Chef Colin takes you on a festive tour of the world, with Christmas specialities drawn from his many travels - there's so many delicious dishes to try, I don't know where to start! 😍

Any of the Starters make a perfect light lunch, we can do smaller versions of most of the Mains, and we've still got tasty sandwiches too, so whatever time of day you visit there's always something on the menu for you 😋

There's only two days we're NOT serving food this festive season (Mon. 23rd & Mon. 30th) so whether you fancy getting out of the house, treating your family, or need refuelling after a long walk - we're here to welcome you 😊

We've got those weird days between Christmas & New Year covered too: on Friday 27th we've got a little something different for you - create your own pizzas & ice cream sundaes while enjoying some fab live music! 🍕🍨 And if you've had your fill of of turkey, we've got a delicious Sunday Roast Beef for you on the 29th! 🤤

Go grab your diary, call to book yourself in, and let us take care of the cooking AND the dishes 🥳 We're on 01828 920 090 (Apple Maps/Safari still has our old details 🤦‍♀️)

We really can't wait to welcome you and yours this Christmas 🥂

19/12/2024

📣 FUN, FOOD, and loads of LIVE MUSIC ✨️
We've got so much lined up for you this festive season that we've curated our own What's On guide! 🎅 Dive in below - we guarantee there's something for everyone 🤩

A few highlights to pick out - starting off with the special Christmas edition of our always-popular Pub Quiz Night, happening TONIGHT (Thurs. 19th) from 8pm-10pm 🤓

We're bringing you not 1, not 2, or 3, but *4* different chances to get your toes tapping with some first class LIVE MUSIC 🎵 First up enjoy dinner on Christmas Eve accompanied by the fab vocals of Ben Jarvis Music 🎸

Ben returns for an upbeat set on the 27th, when we give you the PERFECT excuse to escape the house (or your family 😅) with our Pizza & Ice Cream night! Choose your own toppings 🍕 and create your own sundae 🍨 all while enjoying some bouncy tunes!

We've switched up our usual Thursday Open Mic Night to Saturday 28th instead - come & enjoy a TONNE of local talent, if you've not been to one before COME, they're awesome fun! 😄

We heard NYE has been a bit of a non-event in Alyth for a while, so we're here to SHAKE THINGS UP with brilliant cover-band Jonny Lee Good 🎙 The guys will have you rocking in no time, so call or pop in to book your ticket NOW❗️ Entry is £5 per person, and free if you're booked for dinner 🙌 We've even got a piper for the bells! 🔔

If it's food you're after then The Alyth Hotel has you covered - Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, NYE & NYD, plus most of those weird days in between 😅 Infact there's only 2 days we're NOT cooking, so let us take the foodie stress out of your holidays & book a table 🍽 We've even got a few spaces left for Christmas Day if you're quick! 🎄

🎁 Stuck for a last minute gift? Don't worry - we can whip you up a gorgeous gift voucher in any amount, in about 10 seconds flat! Envelope & everything! 😍

🛌 We can take care of your house-guest stress too - a big group just cancelled several rooms across the festive period, so if you'd like to suggest your family or friends "relocate" for the holidays we can help you out with a great price! Call for rates & booking 😊

🍻 Lastly, our Cafe-bar is OPEN EVERY DAY, from 10:30am - it's super cosy & family friendly, with every kind of drink, coffee, tea & cake you could wish for 🧁 The fire will be lit, and a warm welcome awaits you 💖 Contact details on our page!

14/12/2024

Well suffice to say the last 10hrs have NOT gone to plan! 😳 "Is that a roe deer in your home office Hazel?" Why yes, yes it is. "How did it get there?" WELL...

It started with year-end accounts, which I was working away on quite happily, until I heard someone in the bar trying to square-off with our Bartender, so I headed through, channelled my mum, and laid down the law. All fine & chill, until...

Alasdair comes running in at 11:45pm saying there's an ambulance at our house because Chef Colin was choking on a piece of plastic at home alone (not his own cooking 🙈), so had done the very sensible thing & jogged down the road to our house! Alasdair headed off to pick up Colin's lovely wife from work, and I speed off to Ninewells with a not-so-well Colin in the passenger seat 😱

3hrs later & Colin gets called & I stay in the waiting room surrounded by 5 different flavours of gadgie 😐 Much tough-talk, football-boasting, & a quite impressive attempt at speaking French to a French man later, they start surmising loudly that I'm maybe, probably, most definitely: undercover 🥸 As I sit there in my giant, fluro-yellow puffer jacket. So I crack a joke, make the guy with the broken jaw laugh, then Colin comes back...We drive, then...

It's 4am & I take a bend & see a big lump in the road. Slowing up we see it's a deer, a very sleepy looking deer 🦌 It doesn't move as we pull up and stop beside it...or when we open the door & clap...But it's most definitely still alive. A torch inspection later & it looks like she's been clipped in the face - swollen eye & jaw, but otherwise remarkably unscathed. My phone dies & Colin's has no signal, so there's only one thing for it: pop her in the car & take her home, because she's stone cold, fading, and about to take the next car in the face 🫣

SSPCA don't open til 8am so I made her as comfy as possible with a blanket-electric blanket-blanket sandwich & some water, and that's where you find us: sleepily keeping each other company, with an SSPCA officer en route. I've named our wee fighter Cindy. Wish her luck ❤️

12/12/2024

Come get your toes a-tappin' bi-weekly Open Mic 🎙 TONIGHT Thursday 12th December! Starting at 8pm, we've got a great line-up of brilliant local talent, and always space for more if you fancy braving the crowd & gie-in' us a tune 🎸 We don't bite! 😅

What better excuse to shake off the sofa-blues & get oot the hoose than to rock out & support our intrepid singers & musicians 🤘 The beers are cold 🍻 The fire is toasty 🔥 And we've even got designated drivers covered with lots of tasty 0% options! 🙌

Not tried our INCREDIBLE new December Menu yet? Book a table to fill yer boots before the music starts - it's the recipe for a perfect evening out! 😋

08/12/2024

IT'S TODAY! Sunday 8th December - the first Alyth Hotel & Friends Christmas Market 🤩🎄 Will there be another, ever? WHO KNOWS?! 😅 But we're so so glad to have been able to pull this one together - for the stallholders, for the local businesses, and for Alyth ❤️

I've met so many lovely, kind, helpful people over the last 2 weeks - from Alyth & loads of other places too, who've been wonderful enough to jump aboard this bullet train & trust me to deliver. None of them knew me - from vendors to journalists to amazing volunteers - and i have to remind myself that trust is earned, so while *I* knew this was my wheelhouse, they didn't. I hope their faith pays off today, and I can't wait to welcome all these incredible market traders, who I know have been working their butts off to bring you their very best 💪😊

You'll quite literally find it ALL in Alyth today - your gift list is sorted, believe me! 🎁 So I hope you'll come along, grab a map, and head off to visit everyone who's made the trip to be here today PLUS our very own local businesses who've got all kinds of great things in store for you 🥳

If you see me running about in my bright yellow jumper, do say hello, even a crisp high-five if you're having a good time! 🙌 See you soon for a market to remember 🎅

07/12/2024

The community spirit continues! 🎈🎈🎈

Thank you SO much to our amazing team of volunteers for coming to help build BALLOON MOUNTAIN today! The mood started out buoyant...then a bit out of puff - but we were neither deflated nor defeated! 😅 Look out for the balloons tomorrow - possibly flying through the town if the wind keeps up 🙈

03/12/2024

Thanks to Johnathon at The Blairgowrie Advertiser for helping us get the word out about Sunday's Christmas Market - what a lovely piece:

NEW MARKET FOR ALYTH AFTER WEATHER BLOW

"Community-spirited locals have rallied to ensure a Christmas market goes ahead in Alyth.

Initial plans for a Winter Market in the town were cancelled as a result of safety concerns associated with Storm Bert late last month. But now a multi-site Alyth Hotel and Friends Christmas Market is to take place from noon until 4pm on Sunday, December 8.

There will be 38 vendors split across The Alyth Hotel, The Hive Artists Studio, The Singing Kettle Cafe, Cafe in the Square, Airlie Street Hall and Alyth Cyclery.

Other local businesses who already stock multiple local artists and producers, such as Artizan Crafts,
Burnt-Out and the newly-opened Alyth Pantry, will also be on the trail. A map will be produced, taking
market-goers on a tour around Alyth and is designed to create a festive buzz throughout the town in the run-up to Christmas.

📷 Pictured,from left are Alyth Hotel's Hazel Lightbody, Steve Boath of Cafe in the Square, Jilly Henderson of The Hive Arts Venue and artist & sculptor Louise Jarvis with dog Olive.

01/12/2024

It's kind of amazing what folk can achieve when they're really passionate about something 🧡

Over the last 7 days I've been working flat-out on The Alyth Hotel & Friends Christmas Market, and with the help of my fellow host venues we've made space for an incredible **59** STALLS across 7 local businesses, all indoors & safe from the weather 🙌

We're bringing you 40 tried-and-true favourites, plus 19 brand NEW vendors who'll take your Christmas shopping to the next level! 🎁 Everything is covered, whether you're a foodie or a crafty or a gifting fanatic - we really can't wait to show you 😍

It's all happening next SUNDAY 8TH DECEMBER, so please SHARE as widely as you can - tell everyone you meet this week, because this collaborative community effort deserves every success 🫶 Further info to follow 😃

Huge thanks to The Hive, Alyth Cyclery, The Singing Kettle Cafe - Alyth, Café in the Square , and Burntout - weareburntout for joining me on this adventure! 😅

01/12/2024

Once they're gone they're gone!

🍗 ROAST CHICKEN is the name of the game today - always a sell-out so head on over ASAP, no booking required 😋