The owner of Cairngorms Glamping in Strathdon has said she is “totally gobsmacked” after winning this week’s Four in a Bed TV show.
Pam Taylor beat rivals from Blackfriars in Inverness, Durris-based Bogenraith House and Lovat Hotel in Perth to take home the crown.
On this week’s final episode, it was “payment day”, in which participants would find out which one was best value place of the week, how much they had been paid and “settle some scores”.
However, it was not all plain sailing for Pam as she had to deal with negative comments from Sarah Lownie and Sharmin Hossain from the Lovat Hotel.
The pair rated Cairngorms Glamping four out of 10 for the facilities on offer, with Sarah declaring “there was no glam about it” and it being “just like a shed”.
Hitting back, the owner said: “If you look up the definition of glamping, it actually means glamorous camping and the actual meaning is a structure that resembles a tent, so we’ve actually gone that bit further.”
Described as being “very basic and below average standard” by Sharmin, Pam said they are “high end” and “weren’t cheap”.
The Strathdon businesswoman announced she “won’t be changing them” due to having “very good” feedback from guests.
With the Lovat Hotel representatives staying in a £127 per night pod, they underpaid by £40, giving £87.
Cairngorms Glamping: ‘We loved it’
However, things drastically improved when it was the turn of mother and daughter duo Agnes Bulloch and Marilyn Childs Duncan.
“You’ve got everything there and we loved it,” the latter stated.
And their final price reflected this, as they overpaid £24 on their £136 glamping pod stay, paying a total of £160.
Father and daughter Dean Slater and Chelsea Abbott were also impressed by the offerings at Pam’s business.
After enjoying in a hot tub that was situated outside of his cabin, the Inverness man said: “I feel as though you are underselling yourself.”
Staying in a £136 pod, they decided it was worth £44 more, coming it at a total of £180, meaning it was a total final bill average of 106%.
“I’m ecstatic, I’m totally gobsmacked at the overpayments, it’s so good when a guest enjoys their stay,” Pam gleefully said.
“Proud beyond words,” she added: “I didn’t think I was going to win at the start, but I’m super happy that I did. I’m so proud of our homegrown business, it won.”
Top two Aberdeenshire finish
It was a top two finish for the north-east on this week’s Four in a Bed, as Bogenraith House, also in Aberdeenshire, finished as runner-up.
In total, the B&B had a final bill average of 83%, however, their was tension between Durris and their Blackfriars competitors.
Dean, who could not sleep due to the bed at the B&B, described his experience as “not a good one”, however Marilyn hit back by saying: “I hope you can find somewhere else that makes you happy.”
Pam told the mother and daughter: “I had the most amazing experience at yours, I think I was staying in a different hotel to everybody else.”
In total, the Bogenraith’s final bill average was 83%, with Marilyn – a professional singer by trade – declaring: “Bogenraith House is now truly on the map.”
Finishing in third place was the Lovat Hotel in Perth, with Pam saying her £130 room was only worth £40.
Infused by this, Sarah urged Sharmin to “don’t accept it”, however, she did, believing the “customer’s always right”, despite admitting to being “not happy” about it.
In total it was a final bill average of 69% for the hotel.
Inverness hotel finishes last
It was Chelsea who was in charge of revealing the results, and it was last place for her and her father’s Inverness establishment.
Slammed earlier in the week for charging up to £400 for a night, they had a final bill average of 42%, with Blackfriars being underpaid by £240, £225 and £200 respectively.
Not deterred by this, Dean said: “I knew we’d come last because of the high prices, but I know we’re worth it and we’re in a good place, we are fully booked.”
Four in a Bed: Does it REALLY cost £400 to spend the night in Inverness?
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