It's Wednesday again and as promised today another ad from the nostalgic Islay Guide of Keith Faulks. It's sometimes amazing to see how little the outisde of some of the Islay buildings have changed over the years. Keith and I agreed that his Islay Guide was most likely from the 1970s, which means that it's almost 40 years old by now. Back then the building we now know as the very successful an taigh-osda hotel, and dito restaurant, was called the Abbotsford and was a hotel too, at least for a while. The proprietor of the hotel was Mrs. Mary M. Paget. It's surprising to see when you compare images of both the old and new hotel that almost nothing has changed. In fact, this could very well be a good example of "spot the differences". I found it difficult to find many differences and the most obvious change is the colour black that has been replaced with a friendly nice grey.

Like I said above, the Abbotsford is now known as an taigh-osda and has in little over a year become a well respected hotel and is run by Paul and Joan Graham. The changes that had to be made to turn the building into a modern hotel took place on the inside. Last year just before the hotel opened Paul said: "The hotel, being renamed 'an taigh osda @ bruichladdich', meaning "the hotel @ bruichladdich" has been totally stripped out, insulated, high pressure hot water system and central heating installed. The 8 bedrooms have been converted into 5 luxury en-suite bedrooms with king size zip and link beds in four rooms allowing to be used as twins or doubles". I had the pleasure to have dinner in the restaurant and have a look in the rooms and it's a fantastic hotel, the former owners would have been proud to see what has become of their hotel.

Tag: abbotsford bruichladdich guide