It was only supposed to be a short stay – a brief stopover while the parent company looked for someone new to take over.
Liz Lawson had already transformed the Blacksmith’s pub in Culloden and now she was needed to plug the gap at an Inverness inn that had fallen on hard times.
Back in 2012, she inherited a Chieftain Hotel that needed to change.
And one way or another, a short stopover became 12 years and counting.
“I was asked to come in and look after the place,” Liz said. “Just for a short period of time, until they found someone to come in.
“Then it became ‘oh, I found someone, you can do it’.
“Somehow I ended up being talked into taking the lease on.”
The new Chieftain Hotel
These days, the Chieftain is known for a few different things.
You’ll find its sports bar packed if you drop in during a big Scotland match.
And it’s a popular haunt for away fans on their way to matches at Caley Thistle or Ross County too.
Its pristine green baize has earned the bar its status as the home of pool in Inverness.
Most people in the Highland capital will have found themselves in the Chieftain’s function room for the variety of weddings and parties it has hosted over the years.
And then there’s the hotel itself, which is busier than ever and continues to rack up good reviews on TripAdvisor.
But all of that seemed a long distance away at the start of Liz’s Chieftain journey.
The whole operation closed for six weeks so a major refurbishment could be carried out and when it re-opened, it looked drastically different.
There was a brand-new menu too – something that caused a bit of apprehension back when it was being introduced.
Liz said: “People were used to what it was like before. So if you come in and change it, it’s a big risk.
“We had some people saying they’d never come back again. I had to be strong and not budge on the things I didn’t want to do.
“And gradually, those people did come back.”
Long hours needed to fill gap caused by difficult staffing situation across Inverness
That no-nonsense approach is very much the way the now owner wants to handle things.
If any disorder erupts, Liz advises her staff to stay behind the bar because she’ll sort it out herself.
She’s got a lot of experience, having started working in hospitality more than 50 years ago as a silver service waitress.
Liz’s uncle ran hotels and her mum was a cook, so there was plenty of chatter about the industry growing up.
And her brother, Don Lawson, owns Johnny Foxes, another of Inverness’s best-known bars.
Liz worked as a commis chef in a large hotel and in various kitchens and bars before she started her adventure with the Chieftain.
Looking back now, it’s clear to see that the toil was worth it.
The hotel has won numerous regional and national awards in recent years.
Earlier this year, the dog-friendly establishment picked up a ‘heart of the community award’ for the fourth time.
It was praised in particular for serving up nearly 100 Christmas Day dinners as part of its community table initiative.
Of course, there’s been a lot of work behind the scenes to get to this point.
And like most businesses across the Highlands, staffing remains a major challenge.
The difficulty finding and retaining staff from a small pool in the region means Liz often finds herself working long hours and rarely having a day off.
She said: “You’re working 12 or 15-hour days and recently, I went six weeks without having a day off.
“I should be sitting with my feet up a lot more but when it’s your own business, you’ve just got to make it work.
“But we’re still getting lots of customers, so as long as we’re still busy it’s good.”
Conversation