Knockderry Country House Hotel, in Cove, was the regional winner for small country house hotel while the Loch Lomond Arms Hotel scooped four regional awards including informal dining and wedding hotel – and two surprise people of excellence awards – receptionist of the year, which went to Lori Barnes and manager of the year which went to general manager Iain Hamilton.

Iain told the Advertiser he was ‘delighted’ with the hotel’s wins.

He added: “It was absolutely fantastic, we were thrilled to bits.

“We knew we had won the first two awards for informal dining and wedding hotel, they had been announced previously, but the persons of excellence awards were all announced on the evening.” Iain said he knew Lori Barnes was up for the regional award of receptionist of the year but had no idea he had been nominated for manager of the year for the Argyll and Lomond region and only found out just before the results were announced.

He added: “The manager of the year was a really well-kept secret, I didn’t even know my name was on the wall at the Crowne Plaza so I couldn’t have been paying that much attention!

“It was one of the last awards read out because it’s such a big award.” While Iain missed out on the national award for hotel manager, he said he was ‘thrilled’ with the regional accolade but couldn’t take all the credit.

He said: “It was a fantastic accolade for the hotel but I couldn’t be hotel manager of the year if I didn’t have a fantastic team of staff who work with me.

“It’s not just an award for me, it’s an award for the whole hotel.” Lori, reception manager, was unable to attend the awards ceremony but received a phone call from Iain who was at the ceremony when her award was announced.

But Lori didn’t even realise she was regional winner at the time and thought she had just been nominated.

Speaking the day after the awards ceremony, Lori said : “I didn’t even realise, me and Iain just had a really big laugh about it, but it’s brilliant to have won.” The Loch Lomond Arms Hotel is currently in the planning stages of building an extension to its function suite, is refurbishing its holiday cottages, and has a new menu on the go.

Iain said the team were ‘all guns blazing’ for the summer months.

The Knockderry Country House Hotel won regional award for best small country house hotel but failed to win a national award- which went instead to the Lake of Menteith Hotel in Perthshire.

Kerrie Robinson, assistant manager at the hotel said it was a ‘disappointing’ result, but being involved with the awards ceremony had been a great experience for the hotel.

She said: “Hotel owners Beth and Murdo (Macleod) and one of our duty managers Anne Lenting went along and they said it was a really lovely evening.

“We’re just working towards next year now.” The 15-bedroom hotel has undergone development over the past 15 years and Kerrie said the hotel was working on minor refurbishments to some of the rooms.

The Scottish Hotel Awards are separated into different categories including gold hotel, luxury hotel and informal dining hotel and up to nine hotels can be nominated in each category.

From each category, a national winner is chosen and from the national winners a Hotel of the Year is chosen.

Damian Riley-Smith, managing director of awards organiser Paragraph Publishing said: “Those who have reached the shortlists, or been given national or People of Excellence recognition represent some of the best hospitality which Scotland has to offer.”