Happy New Year.

We hope this letter finds you in good health, having had a very happy Christmas and an enjoyable Hogmanay.

Nick, the children and I had a lovely Christmas – spent at home and how quiet it was with the hotel shut – the only 2 days of the year! We certainly made the most of the peace, as we are thinking about staying open next Christmas, so if you think you might be interested in perhaps having a peaceful break away over Christmas time please do let us know.

Thank you to all those guests who made our Pierhouse Hogmanay celebrations such fun.
We started off with Champagne and Canapés followed by our Gala Dinner which judging by the feedback was extremely popular. Later in the evening the traditional Ceilidh began with huge enjoyment had by those Scottish dancing, many for the first time, with much encouragement from the band! – The evening finished off with fireworks fired from the end of the pier - Barman Geoff excelling himself with his finest display, despite subzero temperatures!

We are very much looking forward to entering our 5th year here at the Pierhouse Hotel. Doesn’t time fly when you keep yourself busy! Despite all the credit crunch concern and the bad weather, we can safely say that we have had a very good and busy year. For those of you who visited us last year – many thanks for all your support – as without you we would not be where we are today.

We have a number of pieces of news we would like to share with you.

In November, we had our first ever Civil wedding ceremony in the Pierhouse as we now have a Wedding License. What a wonderful day it was – and thank you so much to the newlyweds – Mr & Mrs Ian Starkie – what a wonderful pair they made. Thank you also to their family and friends – come up and see us in the summer when it is warm!

Three months ago in September we had a change of Head Chef and are delighted to welcome Derek McLean to the Pierhouse. He and his team – who have really helped to put the Pierhouse Hotel on the ‘SEAFOOD TRAIL’ map are doing a fabulous job in the kitchen. (See www.theseafoodtrail.com). We are so lucky to be situated alongside one of the most beautiful sea lochs in Scotland which provides us with the freshest langoustines, lobster, crabs, scallops, mussels and oysters – and all just off the end of the pier.

And not far across the loch on the other side at Kingairloch we are very fortunate to have a supply of fresh venison straight off the mountains. The Kingairloch Estate also provides a fantastic setting for those outdoor enthusiasts looking for some deer stalking or fishing and only a 20 minute boat ride away.

Very recently we were delighted to be awarded our first AA Rosette for the quality of our food. We have not deliberately gone down the Rosette route but decided that if the AA felt that we were worthy of a Rosette then we would be very happy to accept it. We still serve a similar fresh local seafood A la carte menu to that which we always have, although very much feel we have taken the quality and presentation up a peg or two in recent years.

During 2009 we were extremely pleased to have been given a number of other awards but perhaps the nicest one was to have been nominated by guests and come in as runner up for Scotland’s ‘Friendliest Hotel’. This was particularly satisfying as the greatest challenge for any hotelier is finding ‘friendly’ staff, so hopefully we are heading in the right direction.

On a strictly professional note, in August we received an ‘EAT SAFE’ award for environmental health from the Food Standards Agency. This was the first awarded in northern Argyll for 8 years, so particularly satisfying.

We are hoping to receive our GREEN TOURISM designation very soon as we feel we should all do our bit to reduce our impact on the environment by making a few simple changes to our lifestyle. So next time you head off on holiday, think green!

We are always trying hard to keep up with the maintenance on The Pierhouse, which is never easy in such an old building. Just before Christmas we put new flooring in the bar area – and also lovely new chairs and tables in the Restaurant! - The other day we had a couple who drove 40 miles in the snow to get to us for lunch, as they had been told by some friends that we had the best view in the world – luckily they were not disappointed!
And last week we started refurbishing all the bathrooms to a similar standard as our Superior Rooms so life is never quiet here!

We have also had an impressive number of ‘Monroe baggers’ here to stay. That is to say, people wanting to climb Scottish mountains over 3000 feet. For those who don’t know about this activity you would be amazed how many enthusiasts there are! But they tell us that when the going gets tough they just think of the awaiting sauna, then relaxing with a malt from our whisky selection by the bar, followed by a seafood platter! This year Nick and I are determined to ‘bag’ a few Munros!

Port Appin and The Pierhouse have been described as a ‘kayak haven’ by our waterbased friends, so if any of the activities mentioned in the newsletter appeal to you or your friends, please do contact us.

We do hope you will come and see us again soon and listed below are the current offers we are running to tempt you!

In the meantime we very much hope you will have a happy and prosperous 2010.

With best Wishes

Nikki, Nick, Robert, Kai and Georgie.