Three friends plan to take the Lochnell Arms Hotel, near Oban, ‘back to its heyday’.
Lauren Stewart, Andrew McPherson and Ricardo Pereira have taken over the 17th-century hotel in North Connel, which was given up by former management this summer.
It’s a challenge for the trio, who hope to inject new life into the 10-bed hotel, eatery and bar overlooking Loch Etive.
Former truck driver Lauren, 30, master barista Ricardo, 39, and hospitality worker Andrew, 33, unexpectedly found themselves bound together by the opportunity.
Andrew explained: “Out of the blue, I got a message from the former owners asking if we would be interested in taking over.
“I asked Lauren if she was able to join Ric and me. We had not discussed it, but we always knew we wanted to work together in the future.
“Within a few days, we decided, and within two weeks, we were signing the lease.
“We still can’t quite believe it. The Lochnell Arms Hotel has so much potential.
“We want to take it back to its heyday.”
New plans for Lochnell Arms Hotel
Plans include continuing the hotel’s famous Sunday carvery and operating as a pub and meeting space in the evening.
They also hope to host weddings and celebrations in future, with the lounge room’s makeover under way.
Andrew, whose mum and dad run Poppies Garden Centre, near Oban, said he and Riccardo were looking for a new challenge.
“I worked in the Lochnell Arms Hotel bar when I was 18,” Andrew said.
“There is a loyal crowd that come in, some of them have been here since I was here as a teenager.
“I have limited vision, and that makes it difficult to work in places I don’t know.
“But here I know every step inside the building, and in most cases, I still remember what our regulars are drinking!”
Andrew isn’t the only one to have had the hotel as part of his life.
Lauren – who traded in her work at popular Oban venues Cuan Mor and The Fishhouse to be a 777 trucker at Glensanda Quarry – grew up in North Connel.
She said: “I lived in Lora View for six years when my family moved up from Ayrshire.
“So I have known the hotel as long as I have known this area. ”
While everything, for now, remains broadly similar to what the previous owners were doing at the hotel – there are plans afoot to attract a new crowd.
Lauren told The P&J: “We want to open the Lochnell up to locals who might not think of this as their first place to come.
“We are planning Christmas party nights, a Guy Fawkes night, quizzes and hopefully live music.
“We are planning to breathe fresh life into the Lochnell. But we want to take our loyal customers from North Connel and the area with us.”
Lochnell committed to employing local staff
Lauren is also committed to employing local staff.
She said: “Everyone who works with us now lives locally.
“Not only has that made staff accommodation slightly easier, but it means people can work shifts with us rather than having to be full-time if that suits them better.
“I worked in hospitality management before, so I know the pressures – but we are a small team and we want the best for everyone working with us.”
Lauren has already taken on school leaver Megan Steele, 17, as a trainee chef.
Megan, who worked in the kitchen before the takeover, said: “At first I was a little bit worried that we were getting new owners, but they are great bosses.
“I have just finished my sixth year at Oban High School, and I have been offered a place to work here with progression through the training I’ll need to be a chef.
“It is a great opportunity.”
Their team includes former five-star Cameron House Hotel chefs Billy and June McKinnell.
For Ricardo, it really is a whole new world.
He said: “Yesterday I was working in the kitchen for the first time, and I have worked in housekeeping.
“I am keeping on top of the places we are having redecorated in the hotel.
“I was a journalist before I moved to London and then Scotland, so I am learning a lot about the hotel trade.
“I want sustainability to be at the heart of what we do.
“So we might not be making huge sweeping changes, but we will be thinking responsibly about the environment as we go forward.”
Adding: “We are giving the Lochnell a facelift, not a full refurbishment. We want people to have an authentic experience whether they are hotel guests or visitors.
“We want them to ‘coorie in’ and to feel welcome.
“We are the custodians of this hotel, and we want to gradually inject ideas.
“We want people to feel that this place is for them – because it is.”
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