I was recently presented with a letter of confirmation that certainly captured my attention. The Torridon hotel had sent a conformation to Mr Van de Velde for a twin-bedded room with private bathroom on the 1st floor. The price was good value at £8.20 per person inclusive of bed and breakfast. Mind you it was 17th May 1976. In those days the hotel was offering a cocktail bar, lounge hall, drawing room, library and gunroom, a well chosen cellar and excellent cuisine. The gunroom is now the whisky bar and the cocktail bar is now bedroom 20. I would also say that the style and presentation is vastly different, as are the bedrooms.

In those days you could have a bath or not (suite or not I guess) and these days all the bedrooms are ensuite and now almost completely changed in the past the years to a more contemporary style. Room 20 has recently received a face lift and will now look dramatically different to the bamboo bar that used to exist. Room 5 is receiving the Rohaise treatment in November as you can see in the photos and room 10 after that.

Activities in those days consisted of salmon, sea and brown trout fishing and stalking. Today it has really changed with abseiling, gorge scrambling, kayaking, mountain guiding as well as fishing and stalking. Mind you it would still be nice to have the 30ft Bermudan sloop that was going in those days.

Dinner would have cost you £2-3 in 1976 depending on how many courses you would have had. That has really changed now as cuisine and food costs have dramatically chnaged beyond recognition.

It is impossible to stop change but at Torridon it is recognised that it is vitally important to retain your values and to strive for excellent service every day. Although I was only 4yrs old back in 1976 I am sure when I say that service and quality at Torridon has changed for the better!

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